Quiet configuration of tracking reference signals for positioning

Abstract

A method for managing positioning reference signal transmissions includes: instructing a transmitting point to apply a muting pattern with respect to transmissions of a reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein a first instance of the first reference signal resource comprises one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first OFDM symbols within a time slot, and a second instance of the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second OFDM symbols within the time slot; and instructing the transmitting point to not transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols silently, even though the muting pattern indicates that transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols is to be muted.

Description

Background Art

[0001] Wireless communication systems have evolved over many generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including transitional 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, internet-enabled wireless service, fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax), fifth-generation (5G) service, and the like. Currently, there are many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and Personal Communications Service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), and Global System for Mobile (GSM) variants of TDMA.

[0002] The fifth generation (5G) mobile standard calls for higher data transmission speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second for each of tens of thousands of users and 1 gigabit per second for dozens of workers on an office floor. To support large-scale sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Therefore, the spectrum efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard. In addition, signaling efficiency should be enhanced, and latency should be significantly reduced compared to the current standard. Summary of the Invention

[0003] An example network entity includes a transmitter, a memory, and a processor, the processor being communicatively coupled to the transmitter and the memory and configured to: instruct a transmission point (TP) to apply a muting pattern with respect to transmission of a reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein a first instance of the first reference signal resource comprises one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols within a time slot, and a second instance of the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second OFDM symbols within the time slot; and instruct the TP to not transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols silently, even though the muting pattern indicates to silence transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols.

[0004] Another example network entity includes: a first component for instructing a transmission point (TP) to apply a muting pattern with respect to transmission of a reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein the first instance of the first reference signal resource comprises one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols within a time slot, and the second instance of the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second OFDM symbols within the time slot; and a second component for instructing the TP to not transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols silently, even though the muting pattern indicates to silence transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols.

[0005] An example method for managing positioning reference signal transmissions includes: instructing a transmitting point (TP) to apply a muting pattern with respect to transmission of a reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein a first instance of the first reference signal resource comprises one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols within a time slot, and a second instance of the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second OFDM symbols within the time slot; and instructing the TP to not transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols silently, even though the muting pattern indicates that transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols is to be muted.

[0006] An example non-transitory processor-readable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor of a network entity to: instruct a transmitting point (TP) to apply a muting pattern with respect to the transmission of a reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein a first instance of the first reference signal resource comprises one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols within a time slot, and a second instance of the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second OFDM symbols within the time slot; and instruct the TP to not transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols silently, even though the muting pattern indicates that the transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols is to be muted. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 is a simplified diagram of an example wireless communication system.

[0008] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A block diagram of components of an example user device is shown.

[0009] Figure 3 is a block diagram of components of an example transmit / receive point.

[0010] Figure 4 is a block diagram of components of an example server, various embodiments of which are described in Figure 1 Shown in.

[0011] Figure 5 is a simplified diagram of a technique for determining the location of a mobile device using OTDOA technology.

[0012] Figure 6 is a simplified diagram of the prior art for determining the location of a mobile device using multi-RTT technology.

[0013] Figure 7 FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of the prior art for determining the location of a mobile device using AoD technology.

[0014] Figure 8 is a simplified block diagram of an example user device.

[0015] Figure 9 is a simplified block diagram of an example of a network entity.

[0016] Figure 10 In such Figure 1 A timing diagram illustrating inter-example transmission and muting of reference signals communicated between components of a wireless communication system is shown.

[0017] Figure 11 In such Figure 1 A timing diagram illustrating transmission and silence within an example of reference signals communicated between components of a wireless communication system is shown.

[0018] Figure 12 In such Figure 1 A timing diagram illustrating transmission and silence within a time slot of a reference signal communicated between components of a wireless communication system is shown.

[0019] Figure 13 is a simplified diagram of an example tracking reference signal transmission schedule.

[0020] Figure 14 is a simplified diagram of an example extended tracking reference signal transmission schedule.

[0021] Figure 15 It has inter-instance quiescing and resource-based quiescing Figure 14 A simplified diagram of an example extended tracking reference signal transmission schedule is shown.

[0022] Figure 16 Is with Figure 15 Same instance silent but with Figure 15 Different resource-based silent Figure 14 The example shown is a simplified diagram of another transmission schedule for an extended tracking reference signal.

[0023] Figure 17 It has inter-instance quiescing and resource-based quiescing Figure 14 A simplified diagram of an example positioning reference signal transmission schedule is shown.

[0024] Figure 18 is a simplified diagram of the signaling and processing flow for determining positioning information using time-based and resource-based silence.

[0025] Figure 19 A flow chart of a method for managing positioning reference signal transmission is provided. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] This document discusses techniques for resource-based muting of reference signals. For example, one or more resources of a reference signal may be muted for a given time period (e.g., symbols), while one or more other resources of the reference signal may not be muted for the same time period. One or more indications of a time-based muting pattern to mute transmissions may be ignored. For example, a time-based muting pattern may indicate that resource elements for an instance (or other amount of time of a reference signal) are muted, while one or more of the resource elements may still be transmitted, e.g., if configured by default or if indicated as part of a resource-based muting configuration. However, other examples may be implemented.

[0027] The items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned. Reference signal orthogonality may be improved while providing some content of the reference signal (e.g., a portion of the reference signal that a user equipment always expects to transmit for the reference signal). Other capabilities may be provided, and not every implementation according to the present disclosure necessarily provides any, let alone all, of the capabilities discussed.

[0028] Obtaining the location of a mobile device accessing a wireless network can be useful for many applications, including, for example, emergency calling, personal navigation, consumer asset tracking, locating friends or family members, and the like. Existing positioning methods include those based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices or entities, including satellite vehicles (SVs) and terrestrial radio sources such as base stations and access points in wireless networks. It is expected that the standardization of 5G wireless networks will include support for various positioning methods that can utilize reference signals transmitted by base stations in a manner similar to how LTE wireless networks currently utilize positioning reference signals (PRS) and / or cell-specific reference signals (CRS) for positioning determination.

[0029] The description may involve, for example, a sequence of actions performed by elements of a computing device. The various actions described herein may be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. The sequences of actions described herein may be embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, will cause an associated processor to perform the functions described herein. Accordingly, the various aspects described herein may be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which are within the scope of the present disclosure, including the claimed subject matter.

[0030] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not specific to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. In general, such a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset tracking device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. The UE can be mobile or can be (e.g., at certain times) fixed and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" can be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT," "client device," "wireless device," "subscriber device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal," "mobile station," "mobile device," or variations thereof. In general, a UE can communicate with a core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible, such as through a wired access network, a WiFi network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), etc.

[0031] Depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, the base station may operate in accordance with one of several RATs to communicate with the UE. Examples of base stations include access points (APs), network nodes, NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), or general NodeBs (gNodeBs, gNBs). Furthermore, in some systems, a base station may provide pure edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functionality.

[0032] A UE may be embodied by any of a variety of device types, including but not limited to a printed circuit (PC) card, a compact flash device, an external or internal modem, a wireless or wired phone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a consumer asset tracking device, an asset tag, and the like. The communication link through which the UE can send signals to the RAN is referred to as an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, and the like). The communication link through which the RAN can send signals to the UE is referred to as a downlink or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, and the like). The term traffic channel (TCH) as used herein may refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0033] As used herein, depending on the context, the term "cell" or "sector" may correspond to one of multiple cells of a base station, or to the base station itself. The term "cell" may refer to a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., via a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) used to distinguish between adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), etc.) that can provide access to different types of devices. In some examples, the term "cell" may refer to a portion of the geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) on which the logical entity operates.

[0034] refer to Figure 1, an example of a communication system 100 includes UE 105, UE 106, a radio access network (RAN) (here, fifth generation (5G) next generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN) 135), and a 5G core network (5GC) 140. UE 105 and / or UE 106 may be, for example, an IoT device, a location tracker device, a cellular phone, a vehicle (e.g., a car, truck, bus, boat, etc.), or other device. A 5G network may also be referred to as a new radio (NR) network; NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or NR RAN; and 5GC 140 may be referred to as an NG core network (NGC). Standardization of NG-RAN and 5GC is ongoing in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Therefore, NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 may conform to current or future 3GPP standards supporting 5G. NG-RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, such as a 3G RAN, a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, or the like. UE 106 may be similarly configured and coupled to UE 105 to send and / or receive signals to / from similar other entities in system 100, but for simplicity of the drawings, the UE 106 is shown in FIG. Figure 1 105. Similarly, for simplicity, the discussion focuses on the UE 105. The communication system 100 can utilize information from a group 185 of satellite vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 of a satellite positioning system (SPS), such as a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, BeiDou, or some other local or regional SPS such as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. The communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0035] like Figure 1As shown, NG-RAN 135 includes NR nodeBs (gNBs) 110a and 110b and a next-generation eNodeB (ng-eNB) 114, while 5GC 140 includes an access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, a session management function (SMF) 117, a location management function (LMF) 120, and a gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 125. gNBs 110a, 110b, and ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to one another, each configured for bidirectional wireless communication with a UE 105, and each communicatively coupled to and configured for bidirectional communication with AMF 115. gNBs 110a, 110b, and ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as base stations (BSs). AMF 115, SMF 117, LMF 120, and GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to one another, and the GMLC is communicatively coupled to an external client 130. The SMF 117 may serve as the initial contact point for a service control function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. A base station such as the gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 may be a macro cell (e.g., a high-power cellular base station), a small cell (e.g., a low-power cellular base station), or an access point (e.g., configured to utilize a network such as WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), (Bluetooth), One or more base stations, such as gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114, may be configured to communicate with UE 105 via multiple carriers. Each of gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and ng-eNB 114 may provide communication coverage (e.g., a cell) for a corresponding geographic area. Each cell may be divided into multiple sectors based on the base station antennas.

[0036] Figure 1A general description of various components is provided, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each of which may be duplicated or omitted as needed. Specifically, although one UE 105 is shown, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized in the communication system 100. Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a greater (or fewer) number of SVs (i.e., more or fewer than the four SVs 190-193 shown), gNBs 110a, gNBs 110b, ng-eNBs 114, AMFs 115, external clients 130, and / or other components. The connections shown connecting the various components in the communication system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted, depending on the desired functionality.

[0037] Although Figure 1 A 5G-based network is shown, but similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. The implementations described herein (whether they are for 5G technology, and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to transmit (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure the directional signals at a UE (e.g., UE 105), and / or provide position assistance to UE 105 (via GMLC 125 or other location server), and / or calculate a position of UE 105 at a locatable device, such as UE 105, gNB 110a, gNB 110b, or LMF 120, based on measurements received at UE 105 of such directionally transmitted signals. The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125, Location Management Function (LMF) 120, Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, SMF 117, ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114 and gNB (gNodeB) 110a, gNB (gNodeB) 110b are examples and may be replaced with or include various other location server functions and / or base station functions, respectively, in various embodiments.

[0038] System 100 is capable of wireless communication because components of system 100 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (at least sometimes using wireless connections), for example, via gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114, and / or 5GC 140 (and / or one or more other devices (not shown), such as one or more other base transceiver stations). For indirect communication, the communication can be modified during transmission from one entity to another, such as by changing header information of a data packet, changing the format, etc. UE 105 may include multiple UEs and may be a mobile wireless communication device, but may communicate both wirelessly and via wired connections. UE 105 may be any of a variety of devices, such as a smartphone, tablet, or vehicle-based device, but these are examples, as UE 105 need not be any of these configurations, and UEs of other configurations may be used. Other UEs may include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart jewelry, smart glasses, or headphones, etc.). Other UEs, whether currently existing or developed in the future, may also be used. In addition, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) may be implemented within the system 100 and may communicate with each other and / or with the UE 105, gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114, 5GC 140, and / or external clients 130. For example, such other devices may include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc. The 5GC 140 may communicate with the external client 130 (e.g., a computer system), for example, to allow the external client 130 to request and / or receive location information about the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0039] The UE 105 or other device may be configured to communicate in various networks and / or for various purposes and / or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi communication, multiple frequencies of Wi-Fi communication, satellite positioning, one or more types of communication (e.g., GSM (Global System for Mobile), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), V2X (Vehicle to Everything, e.g., V2P (Vehicle to Pedestrian), V2I (Vehicle to Infrastructure), V2V (Vehicle to Vehicle), etc.), IEEE 802.11p, etc.). V2X communication can be cellular (cellular V2X (C-V2X)) and / or WiFi (e.g., DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Connection)). The system 100 can support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter can transmit modulated signals on multiple carriers simultaneously. Each modulated signal can be a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal, a time division multiple access (TDMA) signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signal, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal can be sent on a different carrier and can carry a pilot, overhead information, data, etc. UE 105 and UE 106 can communicate with each other through UE-to-UE sidelink (SL) communication by transmitting on one or more sidelink channels such as a physical sidelink synchronization channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

[0040] UE 105 may include and / or may be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a terminal supporting secure user plane location (SUPL) (SET), or some other name. In addition, UE 105 may correspond to a mobile phone, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a PDA, a consumer asset tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a health monitor, a security system, a smart city sensor, a smart meter, a wearable tracker, or some other portable or movable device. Typically (although not necessarily), UE 105 may support the use of a mobile communication technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also known as Wi-Fi), Wireless communications using one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as BT (BT, Bluetooth), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), and 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140). UE 105 may support wireless communications using a wireless local area network (WLAN), which may be connected to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using, for example, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or packet cable. Using one or more of these RATs may allow UE 105 to communicate with external clients 130 (e.g., via Figure 1 Elements of the 5GC 140 not shown in the figure, or possibly via the GMLC 125) and / or allowing the external client 130 to receive location information about the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0041] UE 105 may comprise a single entity or may comprise multiple entities, such as in a personal area network, where a user may employ audio, video and / or data I / O (input / output) devices and / or body sensors and a separate wired or wireless modem. The estimate of the location of UE 105 may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geographic, providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of the UE 105, which may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level, height or depth above or below ground level, floor level, or basement level). Alternatively, the location of UE 105 may be expressed as a city location (e.g., as a postal address, or as a designation of a point or small area in a building, such as a particular room or floor). The location of UE 105 may be expressed as an area or volume (defined geographically or in terms of a city) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 can be expressed as a relative location, including, for example, a distance and direction from a known location. The relative location can be expressed as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to some origin at a known location, which can be defined, for example, geographically, in city terms, or by reference to a point, area, or volume indicated, for example, on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, the use of the term "location" can include any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of the UE, local x, y, and possibly z coordinates are typically solved, and then, if necessary, the local coordinates are converted to absolute coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0042] UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of technologies. UE 105 may be configured to connect indirectly to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) or peer-to-peer (P2P) links. D2D or P2P links may be implemented using technologies such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), (Bluetooth). One or more UEs in a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area of a transmit / receive point (TRP), such as one or more of gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. Other UEs in the group may be outside of this geographic coverage area or may not be able to receive transmissions from the base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may occur between UEs without involving a TRP. One or more UEs in a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area of a TRP. Other UEs in the group may be outside of this geographic coverage area or may not be able to receive transmissions from the base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may occur between UEs without involving a TRP. The TRP may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be conducted between UEs without involving a TRP.

[0043] Figure 1 The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown include NR Node Bs, referred to as gNB 110a and gNB 110b. The pair of gNBs 110a and 110b in the NG-RAN 135 can be connected to each other via one or more other gNBs. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communications between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 110a and 110b. One or more of the gNBs 110a and 110b can provide wireless communications to the 5G 5GC 140 on behalf of the UE 105 using 5G. Figure 1 In the example, it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE 105 is gNB 110a, although if UE 105 moves to another location, another gNB (e.g., gNB 110b) can serve as the serving gNB, or can serve as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105.

[0044] Figure 1The illustrated base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 may include an ng-eNB 114, also known as a next generation evolved Node B. The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 110a and 110b in the NG-RAN 135, possibly via one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE radio access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) radio access to the UE 105. One or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 may be configured to function as a positioning-only beacon, which may transmit signals to assist in determining the positioning of the UE 105 but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or from other UEs.

[0045] Each of gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 may include one or more TRPs. For example, each sector within a cell of a BS may include a TRP, although multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., a shared processor but with separate antennas). System 100 may exclusively include a macro TRP, or system 100 may have different types of TRPs, such as a macro TRP, a pico TRP, and / or a femto TRP. A macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscriptions. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscriptions. A femto TRP or home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a femto cell) and may allow restricted access by terminals with an association with a femto cell (e.g., terminals of users in a home).

[0046] As mentioned earlier, although Figure 1 Nodes configured to communicate according to a 5G communication protocol are depicted, but nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols, such as, for example, an LTE protocol or an IEEE 802.11x protocol, may be used. For example, in an Evolved Packet System (EPS) that provides LTE radio access to a UE 105, the RAN may include an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), which may include base stations, including evolved Node Bs (eNBs). The core network of the EPS may include an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The EPS may include the E-UTRAN and the EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to Figure 1 The NG-RAN 135 in the RAN, and the EPC corresponds to the 5GC 140.

[0047] gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and ng-eNB 114 may communicate with AMF 115, which in turn communicates with LMF 120 for positioning functions. AMF 115 may support mobility (including cell changes and handovers) for UE 105, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to UE 105 and may support data and voice bearers for UE 105. LMF 120 may communicate directly with UE 105, or directly with gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114, for example, via wireless communications. The LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135 and may support positioning procedures / methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (e.g., downlink (DL) OTDOA or uplink (UL) OTDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, Real-Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), and / or other positioning methods. The LMF 120 may process location service requests for the UE 105 received, for example, from the AMF 115 or from the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be referred to by other names, such as a Location Manager (LM), a Location Function (LF), a Commercial LMF (CLMF), or a Value-Added LMF (VLMF). A node / system implementing LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP). At least part of the positioning function (including deriving the location of UE 105) may be performed at UE 105 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by UE 105 of signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as gNB 110a, gNB 110b and / or ng-eNB 114, and / or assistance data provided to UE 105 by LMF 120, for example). AMF 115 may serve as a control node for processing signaling between UE 105 and 5GC 140, and may provide QoS (Quality of Service) flow and session management. AMF 115 may support mobility of UE 105 (including cell changes and handovers) and may participate in supporting signaling connections to UE 105.

[0048] The GMLC 125 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 130 and may forward such location requests to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120, or may forward the location requests directly to the LMF 120. A location response (e.g., containing a location estimate for the UE 105) from the LMF 120 may be returned to the GMLC 125 directly or via the AMF 115, which may then return the location response (e.g., containing a location estimate) to the external client 130. The GMLC 125 is shown as being connected to both the AMF 115 and the LMF 120, although in some implementations it may not be connected to either the AMF 115 or the LMF 120.

[0049] like Figure 1 As further shown in FIG, LMF 120 may communicate with gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 using a new radio positioning protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa) defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) defined in 3GPP TS 36.455, wherein NRPPa messages are passed between gNB 110a (or gNB 110b) and LMF 120 and / or between ng-eNB 114 and LMF 120 via AMF 115. Figure 1As further shown in FIG, the LMF 120 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 may also or alternatively communicate using the New Radio Positioning Protocol (which may be referred to as NPP or NRPP), which may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LPP. Here, LPP and / or NPP messages may be passed between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the UE 105's serving gNB 110a, serving gNB 110b, or serving ng-eNB 114. For example, the LPP and / or NPP messages may be passed between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using the 5G Location Services Application Protocol (LCS AP), and may be passed between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using the 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP and / or NPP protocols may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods, such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, and / or E-CID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using a network-based positioning method, such as E-CID (e.g., when used with measurements obtained by the gNB 110a, gNB 110b, or ng-eNB 114), and / or may be used by the LMF 120 to obtain location-related information from the gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining directional SS transmissions from the gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 may be co-located or integrated with the gNB or TRP, or may be located remotely from the gNB and / or TRP and configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNB and / or TRP.

[0050] Using UE-assisted positioning methods, UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) to calculate a location estimate for UE 105. For example, the location measurements may include one or more of received signal strength indication (RSSI), round-trip signal propagation time (RTT), reference signal time difference (RSTD), reference signal received power (RSRP), and / or reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114, and / or WLAN APs. The location measurements may also or alternatively include measurements of GNSS pseudoranges, code phases, and / or carrier phases of SVs 190-193.

[0051] Using the UE-based positioning method, UE 105 can obtain position measurements (e.g., which can be the same or similar to the position measurements of the UE-assisted positioning method) and can calculate the position of UE 105 (e.g., with the help of assistance data received from a location server such as LMF 120 or broadcast by gNB 110a, gNB110b, ng-eNB 114 or other base station or AP).

[0052] With network-based positioning methods, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, or time of arrival (ToA) of signals transmitted by UE 105) and / or may receive measurements obtained by UE 105. The one or more base stations or APs may send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for use in computing a location estimate for UE 105.

[0053] The information provided by gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 to LMF 120 using NRPPa may include location coordinates and timing and configuration information for directional SS transmissions. LMF 120 may provide some or all of this information to UE 105 as assistance data in LPP and / or NPP messages via NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140.

[0054] The LPP or NPP message sent from LMF 120 to UE 105 may instruct UE 105 to do any of a variety of things depending on the desired functionality. For example, the LPP or NPP message may include instructions for UE 105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and / or OTDOA (or some other positioning method). In the case of E-CID, the LPP or NPP message may instruct UE 105 to obtain one or more measurements (e.g., beam ID, beam width, average angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements) of directional signals transmitted within a particular cell supported by one or more of gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 (or supported by some other type of base station such as an eNB or WiFi AP). The UE 105 may send the measurement quantities back to the LMF 120 via the serving gNB 110a (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g., within a 5G NAS message).

[0055] As previously mentioned, although the communication system 100 is described with respect to 5G technology, the communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc. for supporting and interacting with mobile devices such as UE 105 (e.g., implementing voice, data, positioning, and other functions). In some such embodiments, the 5GC 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, the 5GC 140 may use the non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) in the 5GC 150 to provide a 5G network. Figure 1 115). For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for the UE 105 and may include one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF may be connected to the WLAN and other elements in the 5GC 140 such as the AMF 115. In some embodiments, both the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may be replaced with one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in the EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced with an E-UTRAN including an eNB, and the 5GC 140 may be replaced with an EPC including a mobility management entity (MME) instead of the AMF 115, an E-SMLC instead of the LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use LPPa instead of NRPPa to send / receive location information to / from the eNB in the E-UTRAN and may use LPP to support positioning of the UE 105. In these other embodiments, positioning of UE 105 using directional PRS may be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for 5G networks, except that the functions and processes described herein for gNB 110a, gNB110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, and LMF 120 may in some cases be applied alternatively to other network elements such as eNBs, WiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs.

[0056] As previously mentioned, in some embodiments, the UE to be positioned (e.g., Figure 1 The positioning function is implemented using directional SS beams transmitted by base stations (such as gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) within the range of the UE 105 (e.g., gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114). In some cases, the UE can calculate the UE's position using directional SS beams from multiple base stations (such as gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114, etc.).

[0057] Also refer to Figure 2UE 200 is an example of one of UEs 105 and 106 and includes a computing platform comprising a processor 210, a memory 211 including software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 of a transceiver 215 (including a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a positioning device (PD) 219. The processor 210, the memory 211, the sensor(s) 213, the transceiver interface 214, the user interface 216, the SPS receiver 217, the camera 218, and the positioning device 219 may be communicatively coupled to one another via a bus 220 (which may be configured, for example, for optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., the camera 218, the positioning device 219, and / or one or more of the sensor(s) 213, etc.) may be omitted from UE 200. Processor 210 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and the like. Processor 210 may include multiple processors, including a general / application processor 230, a digital signal processor (DSP) 231, a modem processor 232, a video processor 233, and / or a sensor processor 234. One or more of processors 230-234 may include multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, sensor processor 234 may include processors for RF (radio frequency) sensing (utilizing one or more transmitted (cellular) wireless signals and reflections to identify, map, and / or track objects) and / or ultrasound, for example. Modem processor 232 may support dual SIM cards / dual connectivity (or even more SIM cards). For example, one SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Identification Module) may be used by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), while another SIM card may be used by the end user of UE 200 for connectivity. The memory 211 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk storage, and / or read-only memory (ROM), among others. The memory 211 stores software 212, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause the processor 210 to perform the various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 212 may not be directly executable by the processor 210, but may be configured to cause the processor 210 to perform functions, for example, when compiled and executed. The description may refer to the processor 210 performing functions, but this includes other implementations, such as the processor 210 executing software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 210 performing functions as a shorthand for one or more of the processors 230-234 performing functions.The description may refer to UE 200 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of UE 200 performing that function. Processor 210 may include memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or in place of memory 211. The functionality of processor 210 is discussed more fully below.

[0058] Figure 2 The configuration of UE 200 shown in the figure is an example and not a limitation of the present disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, an example configuration of the UE includes one or more of the processors 230-234 of the processor 210, the memory 211, and the wireless transceiver 240. Other example configurations include one or more of the processors 230-234 of the processor 210, the memory 211, the wireless transceiver, and one or more of the sensor(s) 213, the user interface 216, the SPS receiver 217, the camera 218, the PD 219, and / or the wired transceiver.

[0059] The UE 200 may include a modem processor 232 that may be capable of performing baseband processing on signals received and downconverted by the transceiver 215 and / or the SPS receiver 217. The modem processor 232 may perform baseband processing on signals to be upconverted for transmission by the transceiver 215. Additionally or alternatively, the baseband processing may be performed by the processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. However, other configurations may be used to perform baseband processing.

[0060] UE 200 may include sensor(s) 213, which may include, for example, one or more of various types of sensors, such as one or more inertial sensors, one or more magnetometers, one or more environmental sensors, one or more optical sensors, one or more weight sensors, and / or one or more radio frequency (RF) sensors. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) may include, for example, one or more accelerometers (e.g., collectively responsive to acceleration of UE 200 in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes (e.g., three-dimensional gyroscope(s)). Sensor(s) 213 may include one or more magnetometers (e.g., three-dimensional magnetometer(s)) to determine heading (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north), which may be used for any of a variety of purposes, such as supporting one or more compass applications. Environmental sensor(s) may include, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more barometric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and / or one or more microphones. Sensor(s) 213 may generate analog and / or digital signals, indications of which may be stored in memory 211 and processed by DSP 231 and / or processor 230 to support one or more applications, such as, for example, applications for positioning and / or navigation operations.

[0061] The sensor(s) 213 may be used for relative position measurement, relative position determination, motion determination, and the like. The information detected by the sensor(s) 213 may be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based position determination, and / or sensor-assisted position determination. The sensor(s) 213 may be useful for determining whether the UE 200 is stationary (stationary) or moving, and / or whether to report certain useful information regarding the mobility of the UE 200 to the LMF 120. For example, based on the information obtained / measured by the sensor(s) 213, the UE 200 may notify / report to the LMF 120 that the UE 200 has detected movement or has moved, and report the relative displacement / distance (e.g., via dead reckoning, sensor-based position determination, or sensor-assisted position determination implemented by the sensor(s) 213). In another example, for relative positioning information, the sensor / IMU may be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of other devices relative to the UE 200.

[0062] The IMU can be configured to provide measurements of the direction and / or speed of motion of the UE 200, which can be used for relative position determination. For example, one or more accelerometers and / or one or more gyroscopes of the IMU can detect the linear acceleration and rotational speed of the UE 200, respectively. The linear acceleration and rotational speed measurements of the UE 200 can be integrated over time to determine the instantaneous direction and displacement of the UE 200. The instantaneous direction and displacement can be integrated to track the position of the UE 200. For example, a reference position of the UE 200 at a moment in time can be determined, for example, using the SPS receiver 217 (and / or by some other component), and measurements from the (multiple) accelerometers and (multiple) gyroscopes obtained after that moment in time can be used in dead reckoning to determine the current position of the UE 200 based on the movement (direction and distance) of the UE 200 relative to the reference position.

[0063] The magnetometer(s) may determine the strength of the magnetic field in different directions, which may be used to determine the orientation of the UE 200. For example, the orientation may be used to provide a digital compass for the UE 200. The magnetometer(s) may include a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the strength of the magnetic field in two orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer(s) may include a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the strength of the magnetic field in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer(s) may provide a component for sensing a magnetic field and providing an indication of the magnetic field, for example, to the processor 210.

[0064] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250, which are configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to one or more antennas 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 248 and converting signals from the wireless signals 248 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 248. Thus, the wireless transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 244 may include multiple receivers, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured in accordance with a standard such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), The wired transceiver 250 may communicate signals (e.g., with a TRP and / or one or more other devices) using various radio access technologies (RATs), such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The new radio may use millimeter wave frequencies and / or frequencies below 6 GHz. The wired transceiver 250 may include a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254 configured for wired communication (e.g., a network interface that may be used to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to and receive communications from the NG-RAN 135). The wired transmitter 252 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 254 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured for, for example, optical communication and / or electrical communication. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, for example, via an optical connection and / or an electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215. The wireless transmitter 242 , the wireless receiver 244 , and / or the antenna 246 may each include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, and / or multiple antennas for transmitting and / or receiving appropriate signals, respectively.

[0065] The user interface 216 may include one or more of several devices, such as, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a display device, a vibration device, a keyboard, a touch screen, and the like. The user interface 216 may include more than one of any of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to enable a user to interact with one or more applications hosted by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store indications of analog signals and / or digital signals in the memory 211 for processing by the DSP 231 and / or the general processor 230 in response to actions from the user. Similarly, an application hosted on the UE 200 may store indications of analog signals and / or digital signals in the memory 211 to present output signals to the user. The user interface 216 may include audio input / output (I / O) devices, including, for example, a speaker, a microphone, digital-to-analog conversion circuitry, analog-to-digital conversion circuitry, an amplifier, and / or a gain control circuit (including more than one of any of these devices). Other configurations of audio I / O devices may be used. Additionally or alternatively, the user interface 216 may include one or more touch sensors that respond to touch and / or pressure, for example, on the keyboard and / or touch screen of the user interface 216.

[0066] The SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring SPS signals 260 via an SPS antenna 262. The SPS antenna 262 is configured to convert the SPS signals 260 from wireless signals to wired signals, such as electrical or optical signals, and may be integrated with the antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process, in whole or in part, the acquired SPS signals 260 for use in estimating the position of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to use the SPS signals 260 to determine the position of the UE 200 through trilateration. In conjunction with the SPS receiver 217, the general-purpose processor 230, the memory 211, the DSP 231, and / or one or more dedicated processors (not shown) may be used to process, in whole or in part, the acquired SPS signals and / or calculate the estimated position of the UE 200. The memory 211 may store indications (e.g., measurements) of the SPS signals 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals acquired from the wireless transceiver 240) for use in performing positioning operations. The general-purpose processor 230 , the DSP 231 , and / or one or more specialized processors and / or the memory 211 may provide or support a location engine for use in processing measurements to estimate the location of the UE 200 .

[0067] UE 200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still or moving images. Camera 218 may include, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge-coupled device or CMOS imager), a lens, analog-to-digital conversion circuitry, a frame buffer, etc. General processor 230 and / or DSP 231 may perform additional processing, conditioning, encoding, and / or compression on signals representing captured images. Additionally or alternatively, video processor 233 may perform conditioning, encoding, compression, and / or manipulation on signals representing captured images. Video processor 233 may decode / decompress stored image data for presentation on a display device (not shown), such as user interface 216.

[0068] Positioning device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine the location of UE 200, the motion of UE 200, and / or the relative location of UE 200, and / or time. For example, PD 219 may communicate with SPS receiver 217 and / or may include some or all of SPS receiver 217. PD 219 may work appropriately in conjunction with processor 210 and memory 211 to perform at least a portion of one or more positioning methods, although the description herein may refer to PD 219 being configured to perform according to (a plurality of) positioning methods or performing according to a positioning method. PD 219 may also or alternatively be configured to determine the position of UE 200 using land-based signals (e.g., at least some of signals 248) for trilateration, using SPS signals 260, or both. The PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using one or more other techniques (e.g., relying on the UE's self-reported location (e.g., as part of the UE's location beacon)), and may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and terrestrial positioning signals) to determine the location of the UE 200. The PD 219 may include one or more of the sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscope(s), accelerometer(s), magnetometer(s), etc.) that may sense the orientation and / or motion of the UE 200 and provide an indication thereof that the processor 210 (e.g., processor 230 and / or DSP 231) may be configured to use to determine the motion of the UE 200 (e.g., velocity vector and / or acceleration vector). The PD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of uncertainty and / or error in the determined location and / or motion. The functionality of PD 219 may be provided in various ways and / or configurations, such as by general / application processor 230, transceiver 215, SPS receiver 217, and / or another component of UE 200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0069] Also refer to Figure 3, an example of a TRP 300 for gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 includes a computing platform comprising a processor 310, a memory 311 including software (SW) 312, and a transceiver 315. The processor 310, the memory 311, and the transceiver 315 may be communicatively coupled to one another via a bus 320 (which may be configured for, for example, optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., a wireless interface) may be omitted from the TRP 300. The processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 may include a plurality of processors (e.g., including a general / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, such as Figure 2 ). Memory 311 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk storage, and / or read-only memory (ROM). Memory 311 stores software 312, which may be processor-readable and processor-executable software code containing instructions that, when executed, cause processor 310 to perform the various functions described herein. Alternatively, software 312 may not be directly executable by processor 310, but may be configured to cause processor 310 to perform functions, for example, when compiled and executed.

[0070] The description may refer to processor 310 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as processor 310 executing software and / or firmware. The description may refer to processor 310 performing a function as shorthand for one or more processors included in processor 310 performing the function. The description may refer to TRP 300 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components (e.g., processor 310 and memory 311) of TRP 300 (and thus one of gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) performing the function. Processor 310 may include memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or in place of memory 311. The functionality of processor 310 is discussed more fully below.

[0071] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350, each configured to communicate with other devices via a wireless connection and a wired connection, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 348 and converting the signals from the wireless signals 348 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and vice versa. Thus, the wireless transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 344 may include multiple receivers, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured in accordance with standards such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), The wired transceiver 350 may communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) using various radio access technologies (RATs), such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for wired communication (e.g., a network interface that may be used to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send and receive communications to, for example, the LMF 120 and / or one or more other network entities). The wired transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 354 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured for, for example, optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0072] Figure 3 The configuration of the TRP 300 shown in the specification is an example and not a limitation of the present disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein discusses that the TRP 300 is configured to perform several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0073] Also refer to Figure 4 , the server 400 (LMF 120 is an example thereof) includes a computing platform including a processor 410, a memory 411 including software (SW) 412, and a transceiver 415. The processor 410, the memory 411, and the transceiver 415 can be communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 420 (which can be configured for, for example, optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the devices shown (e.g., a wireless interface) can be omitted from the server 400. The processor 410 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 may include a plurality of processors (e.g., including a general / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, such as Figure 2 ). Memory 411 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk storage, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. Memory 411 stores software 412, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to cause the processor 410 to perform the various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, software 412 may not be directly executable by the processor 410, but may be configured to cause the processor 410 to perform functions, for example, when compiled and executed. The description may involve the processor 410 performing functions, but this includes other implementations, such as the processor 410 executing software and / or firmware. The description may mention that the processor 410 performs functions as a shorthand for one or more processors included in the processor 410 performing functions. The description may mention that the server 400 performs functions as a shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the server 400 performing functions. In addition to and / or in place of memory 411, the processor 410 may include a memory with stored instructions. The functionality of the processor 410 is discussed more fully below.

[0074] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450, which are configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a wireless transmitter 442 and a wireless receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 448 and converting signals from wireless signals 448 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to wireless signals 448. Thus, the wireless transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 444 may include multiple receivers, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured in accordance with standards such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), The wired transceiver 450 may communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) using various radio access technologies (RATs) such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for wired communication (e.g., a network interface that can be used to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send and receive communications to and from, for example, the TRP 300 and / or one or more other network entities). The wired transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 454 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured for, for example, optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0075] The description herein may refer to processor 410 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as processor 410 executing software (stored in memory 411) and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to server 400 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of server 400 (e.g., processor 410 and memory 411) performing the function.

[0076] Figure 4The configuration of server 400 shown in the figure is an example and does not limit the present disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. In addition or alternatively, the description herein discusses that server 400 is configured to perform several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by TRP 300 and / or UE 200 (i.e., TRP 300 and / or UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0077] Positioning technology

[0078] For terrestrial positioning of UEs in cellular networks, techniques such as Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) and Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) typically operate in a "UE-assisted" mode, in which the UE obtains measurements of reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) transmitted by the base station and then provides these measurements to a location server. The location server then calculates the UE's position based on the measurements and the known positions of the base stations. Because these techniques use a location server rather than the UE itself to calculate the UE's position, they are not often used in applications such as automotive or mobile phone navigation, which typically rely on satellite-based positioning.

[0079] UEs can use a satellite positioning system (SPS) (Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) for high-accuracy positioning using Precise Point Positioning (PPP) or Real-Time Kinematics (RTK) techniques. These techniques use assistance data such as measurements from ground-based stations. LTE Release 15 allows data to be encrypted so that UEs that exclusively subscribe to the service can read the information. Such assistance data changes over time. Therefore, a UE that subscribes to the service may not be able to easily "break the encryption" for other UEs by passing the data to other UEs that have not paid for the subscription. Each time the assistance data changes, the transfer will need to be repeated.

[0080] In UE-assisted positioning, the UE sends measurements (e.g., TDOA, Angle of Arrival (AoA), etc.) to a positioning server (e.g., LMF / eSMLC). The positioning server has a base station almanac (BSA), which contains multiple "entries" or "records," one record per cell, where each record contains the geographic cell location but may also include other data. An identifier for a "record" among the multiple "records" in the BSA can be referenced. The BSA and the measurements from the UE can be used to calculate the UE's position.

[0081] In traditional UE-based positioning, the UE calculates its own position, avoiding sending measurements to the network (e.g., a location server), which in turn improves latency and scalability. The UE uses the associated BSA record information from the network (e.g., the location of the gNB (or more broadly, base station)). The BSA information can be encrypted. However, because BSA information changes less frequently than, for example, the PPP or RTK assistance data described earlier, it can be more readily available to UEs that do not subscribe to and pay for decryption keys (compared to PPP or RTK information). The transmission of reference signals by the gNB makes the BSA information potentially accessible to crowdsourcing or access point mapping, essentially enabling the BSA information to be generated based on live and / or over-the-air observations.

[0082] Positioning technologies can be characterized and / or evaluated based on one or more criteria, such as positioning accuracy and / or latency. Latency is the time elapsed between an event triggering the determination of positioning-related data and the availability of that data at a positioning system interface (e.g., the interface of LMF 120). When the positioning system is initialized, the latency for the availability of positioning-related data is called the time to first fix (TTFF) and is greater than the latency after the TTFF. The inverse of the time elapsed between the availability of two consecutive positioning-related data is called the update rate, i.e., the rate at which positioning-related data is generated after the first fix. Latency can depend, for example, on the processing capability of the UE. For example, the UE can report its processing capability as the duration of a DL PRS symbol that the UE can process in units of time (e.g., milliseconds), assuming a 272 PRB (physical resource block) allocation, per T amount of time (e.g., T milliseconds). Other examples of capabilities that can affect latency are the number of TRPs that the UE can process PRSs, the number of PRSs that the UE can process, and the UE's bandwidth.

[0083] One or more of a number of different positioning techniques (also known as positioning methods) can be used to determine the location of an entity, such as one of UE 105 and UE 106. For example, known positioning determination techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, OTDOA (also known as TDOA, and including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), enhanced cell identification (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL-AoA, etc. RTT uses the time it takes for a signal to travel from one entity to another and back to determine the distance between two entities. This distance, along with the known position of a first one of the entities and the angle (e.g., azimuth) between the two entities, can be used to determine the location of a second one of the entities. In multi-RTT (also known as multi-cell RTT), multiple distances from one entity (e.g., a UE) to other entities (e.g., TRPs) and the known positions of the other entities can be used to determine the location of the one entity. In TDOA techniques, the difference in travel time between one entity and the other entities can be used to determine the relative distance from the other entity, and these, combined with the known positions of the other entities, can be used to determine the location of the one entity. Angle of arrival and / or angle of departure can be used to help determine the location of the entity. For example, the angle of arrival or departure of a signal combined with the distance between the devices (determined using the signal, e.g., time of travel of the signal, received power of the signal, etc.) and the known position of one of the devices can be used to determine the position of the other device. The angle of arrival or departure can be an azimuth relative to a reference direction such as true north. The angle of arrival or departure can be a zenith angle relative to directly upward from a physical object (i.e., relative to radially outward from the center of the earth). E-CID uses the identity of the serving cell, the timing advance (i.e., the difference between the receive and transmit times at the UE), the estimated timing and power of detected neighboring cell signals, and possibly the angle of arrival (e.g., of a signal from a base station at the UE, or of a signal from a UE at the base station) to determine the position of the UE. In TDOA, the position of the receiving device is determined using the difference in arrival times of signals from different sources at the receiving device, along with the known positions of the sources and the known offsets in the transmit times from the sources.

[0084] In network-centric RTT estimation, a serving base station instructs a UE to scan / receive RTT measurement signals (e.g., PRS) on serving cells of two or more neighboring base stations (typically as well as the serving base station, since at least three base stations are required). One or more base stations transmit RTT measurement signals on low reuse resources (e.g., resources used by base stations to transmit system information) allocated by the network (e.g., a location server such as LMF 120). The UE records the time of arrival (also known as reception time, received time, received time, or time of arrival (ToA)) of each RTT measurement signal relative to the UE's current downlink timing (e.g., derived by the UE based on DL signals received from its serving base station), and (e.g., when instructed by its serving base station) transmits a common or separate RTT response message (e.g., an SRS (sounding reference signal) for positioning, i.e., UL-PRS) to one or more base stations, and may include the time difference T between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message in the payload of each RTT response message. Rx→Tx (i.e., UE T Rx-Tx or UE Rx-Tx The RTT response message will include a reference signal from which the base station can infer the ToA of the RTT response. Tx→Rx Time difference T with UE report Rx→Tx By comparison, the base station can infer the propagation time between the base station and the UE, from which the base station can determine the distance between the UE and the base station by assuming the speed of light during this propagation time.

[0085] UE-centric RTT estimation is similar to the network-based approach, except that the UE transmits (multiple) uplink RTT measurement signals that are received by multiple base stations in the vicinity of the UE (e.g., when instructed by a serving base station). Each involved base station responds with a downlink RTT response message that may include the time difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal at the base station and the transmission time of the RTT response message from the base station in the RTT response message payload.

[0086] For both network-centric and UE-centric processes, the side performing the RTT calculation (the network or the UE) typically (although not always) transmits first message(s) or signal(s) (e.g., RTT measurement signal(s),) and the other side responds with one or more RTT response messages or signals that may include the difference between the ToA of the first message(s) or signal(s) and the transmission time of the RTT response message(s) or signal(s).

[0087] Positioning can be determined using a multi-RTT technique. For example, a first entity (e.g., a UE) can send one or more signals (e.g., unicast, multicast, or broadcast from a base station), and multiple second entities (e.g., other TSPs such as (multiple) base stations and / or (multiple) UEs) can receive the signals from the first entity and respond to the received signals. The first entity receives responses from the multiple second entities. The first entity (or another entity such as an LMF) can use the responses from the second entities to determine the distance to the second entity, and can use the multiple distances and the known positions of the second entities to determine the position of the first entity through trilateration.

[0088] In some cases, additional information may be obtained in the form of an angle of arrival (AoA) or angle of departure (AoD) that defines a linear direction (e.g., in the horizontal plane or in three dimensions) or may define a range of directions (e.g., a range of directions of the UE starting from the location of a base station). The intersection of the two directions can provide another estimate of the UE's position.

[0089] For positioning techniques (e.g., TDOA and RTT) that use PRS (Positioning Reference Signal) signals, the PRS signals sent by multiple TRPs are measured, and the arrival time of the signals, the known transmission time, and the known location of the TRP are used to determine the distance from the UE to the TRP. For example, RSTD (Reference Signal Time Difference) can be determined for PRS signals received from multiple TRPs and used in TDOA techniques to determine the location (position) of the UE. Positioning reference signals may be referred to as PRS or PRS signals. PRS signals are typically transmitted using the same power, and PRS signals with the same signal characteristics (e.g., the same frequency shift) may interfere with each other, so that PRS signals from more distant TRPs may be drowned out by PRS signals from closer TRPs, resulting in signals from more distant TRPs being undetectable. PRS muting may be used to help reduce interference by muting some PRS signals (reducing the power of the PRS signal to, for example, zero, so that the PRS signal is not transmitted). Thus, a weaker (at the UE) PRS signal can be more easily detected by the UE without a stronger PRS signal interfering with the weaker PRS signal.The term RS and its variants (eg, PRS, SRS, TRS) may refer to one reference signal or more than one reference signals.

[0090] Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) include downlink PRS (DL PRS, often referred to as PRS) and uplink PRS (UL PRS) (which may be referred to as SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) for positioning). PRS may include a PN code (pseudo-random number) or be generated using a PN code (e.g., scrambling the PN code with another signal) so that the source of the PRS can be used as a pseudo-satellite (virtual satellite). The PN code may be unique to the PRS source (at least within a specified area, so that the same PRS from different PRS sources does not overlap). PRS may include PRS resources or PRS resource sets of a frequency layer. A DL PRS positioning frequency layer (or simply a frequency layer) is a collection of DL PRS resource sets from one or more TRPs, where the (multiple) PRS resources have common parameters configured by higher-layer parameters DL-PRS-PositioningFrequencyLayer, DL-PRS-ResourceSet, and DL-PRS-Resource. Each frequency layer has DL PRS resources in that frequency layer and a DL PRS subcarrier spacing (SCS) of a DL PRS resource set. Each frequency layer has DL PRS resources in that frequency layer and a DL PRS cyclic prefix (CP) for the DL PRS resource set. In 5G, a resource block occupies 12 consecutive subcarriers and a specified number of symbols. In addition, the DL PRS Point A parameter defines the frequency of the reference resource block (and the lowest subcarrier of that resource block). DL PRS resources belonging to the same DL PRS resource set have the same Point A, and all DL PRS resource sets belonging to the same frequency layer have the same Point A. Frequency layers also have the same DL PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size value (i.e., the frequency of PRS resource elements per symbol, such that for comb-N, every Nth resource element is a PRS resource element). A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and can be associated with a specific TRP (identified by a cell ID) transmitted by the antenna panel of a base station. The PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set can be associated with an omnidirectional signal and / or associated with a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single base station (where a base station can transmit one or more beams). Each PRS resource in a PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and therefore, a PRS resource (or simply a resource) can also be referred to as a beam. This does not imply whether the UE knows the base station and beam on which the PRS is transmitted.

[0091] For example, the TRP can be configured by instructions received from a server and / or by software in the TRP to send DL PRS according to a schedule. According to the schedule, the TRP can intermittently (e.g., periodically at consistent intervals starting from the initial transmission) send DL PRS. The TRP can be configured to send one or more PRS resource sets. A resource set is a collection of PRS resources across one TRP, where the resources have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across the time slot. Each PRS resource set includes multiple PRS resources, each PRS resource includes multiple resource elements (REs), which can be located in multiple resource blocks (RBs) within N (one or more) consecutive symbols within the time slot. An RB is a set of REs that span a certain number of one or more consecutive symbols in the time domain and a certain number (12 for 5G RBs) of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. Each PRS resource is configured with an RE offset, a time slot offset, a symbol offset within the time slot, and the number of consecutive symbols that the PRS resource can occupy within the time slot. The RE offset defines the starting RE offset of the first symbol within the DL PRS resource in frequency. The relative RE offsets of the remaining symbols within the DL PRS resource are defined based on the initial offset. The slot offset is the starting slot of the DL PRS resource relative to the corresponding resource set slot offset. The symbol offset determines the starting symbol of the DL PRS resource within the starting slot. The transmitted REs may be repeated across slots, with each transmission being referred to as a repetition, such that there may be multiple repetitions in a PRS resource. The DL PRS resources in a DL PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP, and each DL PRS resource has a DL PRS resource ID. The DL PRS resource ID in a DL PRS resource set is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (although a TRP may transmit one or more beams).

[0092] PRS resources can also be defined by quasi-colocation and starting PRB parameters. The quasi-colocation (QCL) parameter can define any quasi-colocation information of the DL PRS resource with other reference signals. The DL PRS can be configured as QCL type D with the DL PRS or SS / PBCH (synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel) block from the serving cell or non-serving cell. The DL PRS can be configured as QCL type C with the SS / PBCH block from the serving cell or non-serving cell. The starting PRB parameter defines the starting PRB index of the DL PRS resource relative to the reference point A. The starting PRB index has a granularity of one PRB and can have a minimum value of 0 and a maximum value of 2176 PRBs.

[0093] A PRS resource set is a collection of PRS resources with the same periodicity, the same muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across time slots. Each time all repetitions of all PRS resources of a PRS resource set are configured to be transmitted is referred to as an "instance." Thus, an "instance" of a PRS resource set is a specified number of PRS resources and a specified number of repetitions of each PRS resource within the PRS resource set, such that the instance is complete once the specified number of repetitions are transmitted for each of the specified number of PRS resources. An instance may also be referred to as an "occasion." A DL PRS configuration including a DL PRS transmission schedule may be provided to a UE to facilitate (or even enable) the UE to measure DL PRS.

[0094] Multiple frequency layers of PRS can be aggregated to provide an effective bandwidth greater than any bandwidth of the layers in their individual cases. Multiple frequency layers of component carriers (which can be contiguous and / or separated) that meet criteria such as quasi-collocated (QCL) and have the same antenna port can be spliced to provide a larger effective PRS bandwidth (for DL PRS and ULPRS), thereby improving arrival time measurement accuracy. Splicing involves combining PRS measurements on separate bandwidth segments into one, so that the spliced PRS can be considered as being taken from a single measurement. In QCL, different frequency layers behave similarly, allowing the splicing of PRSs to produce a larger effective bandwidth. The larger effective bandwidth (which can be referred to as the bandwidth of the aggregated PRS or the frequency bandwidth of the aggregated PRS) provides better time domain resolution (e.g., TDOA). The aggregated PRS comprises a collection of PRS resources, and each PRS resource in the aggregated PRS can be referred to as a PRS component, and each PRS component can be transmitted on a different component carrier, band, or frequency layer, or on a different portion of the same band.

[0095] RTT positioning is an active positioning technology because RTT uses positioning signals sent by the TRP to the UE and by the UE (participating in RTT positioning) to the TRP. The TRP can send a DL-PRS signal received by the UE, and the UE can send an SRS (sounding reference signal) signal received by multiple TRPs. The sounding reference signal can be referred to as an SRS or an SRS signal. In 5G multi-RTT, coordinated positioning can be achieved, in which the UE sends a single UL-SRS for positioning received by multiple TRPs, instead of sending a separate UL-SRS for positioning to each TRP. A TRP participating in multi-RTT typically searches for UEs currently residing on the TRP (the served UE, which is the serving TRP) and UEs residing on neighboring TRPs (neighboring UEs). A neighboring TRP can be a TRP of a single BTS (such as a gNB), or it can be a TRP of one BTS and TRPs of separate BTSs. For RTT positioning, including multi-RTT positioning, the DL-PRS signal in the PRS / SRS signal pair used for positioning and the UL-SRS used for positioning signals used to determine the RTT (and therefore for determining the distance between the UE and the TRP) can occur close in time to each other so that errors due to UE motion and / or UE clock drift and / or TRP clock drift are within acceptable limits. For example, the signals in the PRS / SRS signal pair used for positioning can be transmitted from the TRP and the UE, respectively, within approximately 10 ms of each other. When the SRS for positioning signals is transmitted by the UE and the PRS and SRS for positioning signals are delivered close in time to each other, it has been found that radio frequency (RF) signal congestion (which may result in excessive noise, etc.) may result, particularly if many UEs are attempting to locate simultaneously, and / or computational congestion may result at the TRPs of many UEs attempting to measure simultaneously.

[0096] RTT positioning can be UE-based or UE-assisted. In UE-based RTT, the UE 200 determines the RTT and the corresponding distance to each TRP 300 and determines the location of the UE 200 based on the distance to the TRP 300 and the known location of the TRP 300. In UE-assisted RTT, the UE 200 measures the positioning signal and provides the measurement information to the TRP 300, which determines the RTT and distance. The TRP 300 provides the distance to a location server (e.g., server 400), and the server determines the location of the UE 200 based on the distance to different TRPs 300. The RTT and / or distance can be determined by the TRP 300 that receives the signal(s) from the UE 200, by the TRP 300 in combination with one or more other devices (e.g., one or more other TRPs 300 and / or server 400), or by one or more devices other than the TRP 300 that receives the signal(s) from the UE 200.

[0097] 5G NR supports various positioning technologies. NR native positioning methods supported by 5G NR include DL-only positioning, UL-only positioning, and DL+UL positioning. Downlink-based positioning methods include DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. Uplink-based positioning methods include UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. Combined DL+UL-based positioning methods include RTT using a single base station and RTT using multiple base stations (multi-RTT).

[0098] A position estimate (e.g., for a UE) may be referred to by other names, such as position estimate, position, fix, position fix, fix, etc. The position estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be urban and include a street address, postal address, or some other textual description of the location. The position estimate may also be defined relative to some other known location, or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). The position estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the position is expected to be contained with some specified or default confidence level).

[0099] refer to Figure 5 , an example wireless communication system 500 includes base stations 502-1, 502-2, 502-3 and a UE 504. UE 504 can correspond to any UE described herein and is configured to calculate an estimated position of UE 504 and / or assist another entity (e.g., a base station or core network component, another UE, a location server, a third-party application, etc.) in calculating an estimate of the position of UE 504. UE 504 can communicate wirelessly with base stations 502-1, 502-2, and 502-3 using RF signals and standardized protocols for modulating RF signals and exchanging information packets. Base stations 502-1, 502-2, and 502-3 can correspond to any combination of base stations described herein. By extracting different types of information from the exchanged RF signals and utilizing the layout of the wireless communication system 500 (e.g., the locations of the base stations), UE 504 can determine the position of UE 504 and / or assist in determining the position of UE 504 in a predefined reference coordinate system. The UE 504 may be configured to use a two-dimensional (2D) coordinate system and / or a three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system to specify the location of the UE 504. Figure 5 One UE 504 and three base stations 502-1, 502-2, 502-3 are shown, but more UEs 504 may be used and / or more or fewer base stations may be used.

[0100] To support positioning estimation, base stations 502-1, 502-2, 502-3 may be configured to broadcast reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) to enable UE 504 to measure characteristics of such reference signals. For example, the Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) positioning method is a multilateral method in which UE 504 measures the time difference between specific reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, CSI-RS, etc.) transmitted by different pairs of network nodes (e.g., base stations, antennas of base stations, etc.), referred to as Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), and reports these time differences to a location server such as LMF 120 or calculates a position estimate based on these time differences.

[0101] Typically, at a reference network node (e.g. Figure 5 502-1 in the example of ) and one or more neighboring network nodes (e.g., Figure 5 RSTD is measured between base stations 502-2 and 502-3 in the example of FIG. 5 . For any single positioning use of OTDOA, the reference network node remains the same for all RSTDs measured by UE 504 and will typically correspond to the serving cell of UE 504 or another nearby cell with good signal strength at UE 504. In the case where the measuring network node is a cell supported by a base station, the neighboring network nodes will typically be cells supported by a different base station than the base station of the reference cell and may have good or poor signal strength at UE 504. The position calculation may be based on the measured time differences (e.g., RSTD) and knowledge of the positions and relative transmit timings of the network nodes (e.g., whether the network nodes are accurately synchronized or whether each network node transmits at some known time difference relative to the other network nodes).

[0102] To assist in positioning operations, a location server (e.g., LMF 120) may provide reference network nodes (e.g., Figure 5 ) and neighboring network nodes relative to the reference network node (e.g., base station 502-1 in the example of Figure 5 The OTDOA assistance data may include OTDOA assistance data for base stations 502-2 and 502-3 in the example of FIG. For example, the assistance data may provide a center channel frequency for each network node, various reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive positioning subframes, the periodicity of positioning subframes, a quieting sequence, a frequency hopping sequence, a reference signal identifier (ID), a reference signal bandwidth), a network node global ID, and / or other cell-related parameters applicable to OTDOA. The OTDOA assistance data may indicate the serving cell of UE 504 as the reference network node.

[0103] In some cases, the OTDOA assistance data may also include an "expected RSTD" parameter and an uncertainty in the expected RSTD value. The "expected RSTD" parameter provides information to the UE 504 about the RSTD value that the UE 504 is expected to measure between the reference network node and each neighboring network node at the current location of the UE 504. The expected RSTD and the associated uncertainty may define a search window for the UE 504 within which the UE 504 is expected to receive reference signals for measuring RSTD values. The search window may be defined in other ways, for example, by a start time and an end time. The OTDOA assistance information may include reference signal configuration information parameters that help the UE determine when reference signal positioning opportunities for signals received from various neighboring network nodes occur relative to the reference signal positioning opportunities of the reference network node, and determine a reference signal sequence transmitted from each network node to measure signal arrival time (ToA) or RSTD.

[0104] A location server (e.g., LMF 120) may send assistance data to UE 504, and / or the assistance data may originate directly from a network node (e.g., base stations 502-1, 502-2, 502-3), such as in a periodically broadcast overhead message, etc. Additionally or alternatively, UE 504 may be configured to detect neighboring network nodes without using assistance data.

[0105] The assistance data may be based on a coarse position determined for the UE. For example, the E-CID may be used to determine a coarse position of the UE 504, and this coarse position and the known positions of the base stations 502-1, 502-2, 502-3 may be used to determine the expected RSTD value.

[0106] UE 504 may be configured to measure (e.g., based in part on assistance data) and (optionally) report RSTD between reference signals received from a pair of network nodes. Using the RSTD measurements, the known absolute or relative transmit timing of each network node, and the known positioning of the transmit antenna(s) of the reference network node and the neighboring network nodes, the network (e.g., LMF 120, base stations 502-1, 502-2, 502-3) and / or UE 504 may estimate the positioning of UE 504. More specifically, the RSTD of a neighboring network node "k" relative to a reference network node "Ref" may be given as (ToA k –ToA Ref ), where the ToA value can be measured modulo a subframe duration (1ms) to eliminate the effect of measuring different subframes at different times. Figure 5In the example of FIG, the measured time differences between the reference cell of base station 502-1 and the cells of neighboring base stations 502-2 and 502-3 are represented as τ2−τ1 and τ3−τ1, where τ1, τ2, and τ3 represent the ToA of the reference signals from the transmit antenna(s) of base stations 502-1, 502-2, and 502-3, respectively. UE 504 can convert the ToA measurements for different network nodes into RSTD measurements and (optionally) send them to LMF 120. Using (i) RSTD measurements, (ii) known absolute or relative transmit timing of each network node, (iii) known position(s) of the physical transmit antenna(s) of the reference network node and neighboring network nodes, and / or (iv) directional reference signal characteristics such as transmit direction, the position of UE 504 can be determined (e.g., by UE 504 and / or LMF 120).

[0107] Still refer to Figure 5 To obtain a position estimate using the time differences measured by OTDOA, the positions and relative transmit timings of network nodes may be provided by a location server (e.g., LMF 120) to UE 504. The position estimate for UE 504 may be obtained (e.g., by UE 504 and / or by LMF 120) based on the time differences measured by OTDOA and based on other measurements made by UE 504 (e.g., measurements of signal timing from Global Positioning System (GPS) or other Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites). In these implementations, referred to as hybrid positioning, OTDOA measurements may help obtain a position estimate for UE 504, but may not completely determine the position estimate.

[0108] Uplink time difference of arrival (UTDOA) is a positioning method similar to OTDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., positioning sounding reference signals (SRS), also known as uplink positioning reference signals (UL-PRS)) transmitted by a UE (e.g., UE 504). In addition, transmit and / or receive beamforming at base stations 502-1, 502-2, 502-3 and / or UE 504 can help provide wideband bandwidth at the cell edge to improve accuracy. Beam optimization can also take advantage of the channel reciprocity process in 5G NR.

[0109] In NR, coarse timing synchronization across gNBs can be provided (e.g., within the cyclic prefix (CP) duration of an OFDM symbol). Round trip time (RTT)-based methods can use coarse timing synchronization to determine position and are therefore a practical positioning method in NR.

[0110] refer to Figure 6, an example wireless communication system 600 for multi-RTT based positioning determination includes a UE 604 (which may correspond to any UE described herein) and base stations 602-1, 602-2, and 602-3. The UE 604 may be configured to calculate a positioning estimate for the UE 604 and / or assist another entity (e.g., a base station or core network component, another UE, a location server, a third-party application, etc.) in calculating a positioning estimate for the UE 604. The UE 604 may be configured to wirelessly communicate with the base stations 602-1, 602-2, and 602-3 (which may correspond to any base station described herein) using RF signals and standardized protocols for modulating the RF signals and exchanging information packets.

[0111] In order to determine the location (x, y) of the UE 604, the entity determining the location of the UE 604 may use the positions of the base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3, which may be represented as (x, y) in the reference coordinate system. k ,y k ), among which, Figure 6 In the example of , k = 1, 2, 3. In the case where one of base station 602-2 (e.g., serving base station) or UE 604 determines the location of UE 604, the locations of the base stations 602-1, 602-3 involved may be provided to serving base station 602-2 and / or UE 604 by a location server (e.g., LMF 120) having knowledge of the network geometry. Alternatively, the location server may use the known network geometry to determine the location of UE 604.

[0112] The UE 604 or the corresponding base station 602-1, 602-2, 602-3 may determine the distance d between the UE 604 and the corresponding base station 602-1, 602-2, 602-3. k (where k=1, 2, 3) Determining the RTT 610-1, 610-2, 610-3 of signals exchanged between the UE 604 and a corresponding one of the base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3 and converting the RTT to a distance d may be performed. k RTT techniques can measure the time between sending a signaling message (e.g., a reference RF signal) and receiving a response. These methods can utilize calibration to eliminate / reduce processing and / or hardware delays. In some environments, it can be assumed that the processing delays of UE 604 and base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3 are the same, but this may not be accurate.

[0113] UE 604, base stations 602-1, 602-2, 602-3 and / or location servers may use the distance d k, to solve for the location (x, y) of UE 604 by using one or more of various known geometric techniques (such as, for example, trilateration). Figure 6 As shown, the UE 604 is ideally located at the common intersection of three semicircles, each with a radius d k and center (x k ,y k ) definition, where k = 1, 2, 3.

[0114] refer to Figure 7 , a wireless communication system 700 for determining UE positioning using angle of departure (AoD) information includes base stations 702-1, 702-2 and UE 704. As shown, RF beams 706-1, 706-2 can be sent by base stations 702-1, 702-2 to UE 704 along a straight line. The DLAoD of the RF beams 706-1, 706-2 received by UE 704 relative to the base stations 702-1, 702-2 can be determined. The AoD information and the position of the base stations 702-1, 702-2 can be used to determine the intersection of the RF beams 706-1, 702-2, including the measurement uncertainty of each RF beam 706-1, 706-2, which corresponds to the position (x, y) of UE 704. The AoD can be in the horizontal plane or in three dimensions. Although system 700 shows AoD positioning determination, the UE positioning can be determined using angle of arrival (AoA). For UL AoA positioning determination, the angle of arrival of the beam from the UE 704 at the base stations 702 - 1 , 702 - 2 may be found, and this information along with the locations of the base stations 702 - 1 , 702 - 2 may be used to determine the location of the UE 704 .

[0115] refer to Figure 8 And also refer to Figure 2 UE 800 includes a processor 810, an interface 820, and a memory 830 communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 840. UE 800 may include Figure 8 , and may include one or more other components, such as Figure 2 , so that UE 200 may be an example of UE 800. Interface 820 may include one or more components of transceiver 215, for example, wireless transmitter 242 and antenna 246, or wireless receiver 244 and antenna 246, or wireless transmitter 242, wireless receiver 244, and antenna 246. Additionally or alternatively, interface 820 may include wired transmitter 252 and / or wired receiver 254. Memory 830 may be configured similarly to memory 211, for example, including software having processor-readable instructions configured to cause processor 810 to perform functions.

[0116] The description herein may refer only to the processor 810 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as the processor 810 executing software (stored in the memory 830) and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the UE 800 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the UE 800 (e.g., the processor 810 and the memory 830) performing the function. The processor 810 (possibly in conjunction with the memory 830 and, where appropriate, with the interface 820) includes a reference signal (RS) receiving unit 850. The RS receiving unit 850 can coordinate the reception and measurement of one or more reference signals, including making any appropriate adjustments for any reference signal muting.

[0117] refer to Figure 9 And also refer to Figure 1-4 , network entity 900, which may be Figure 3 Example of TRP300 shown, Figure 4 The example of the server 400 shown (eg, LMF) or a combination thereof includes a processor 910, an interface 920, and a memory 930 communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 940. The network entity 900 may include Figure 9 Some or all of the components shown, and may include one or more additional components, such as Figure 3 and / or Figure 4 Interface 920 may include one or more components of transceiver 315 and / or transceiver 415. Memory 930 may be configured similarly to memory 311 and / or memory 411, for example, including software having processor-readable instructions configured to cause processor 910 to perform functions.

[0118] The description herein may refer only to the processor 910 performing functions, but this includes other implementations, such as the processor 910 executing software (stored in the memory 930) and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the network entity 900 performing functions as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the network entity 900 (e.g., the processor 910 and the memory 930) performing the functions. The processor 910 (possibly in conjunction with the memory 930 and, where appropriate, with the interface 920) includes an RS muting unit 960. The RS muting unit 960 can be configured to perform one or more functions for determining one or more RS muting patterns. For example, if the network entity 900 is an example of only the server 400, the RS muting unit 960 can be configured to send one or more muting parameters to the TRP 300 for the TRP to implement transmission of a reference signal (RS) such as a PRS or a TRS (Tracking Reference Signal). As another example, if the network entity 900 includes the TRP 300, the RS muting unit 960 may be configured to transmit RS resources according to one or more muting patterns, and may be configured to cover at least one of the muting pattern(s).

[0119] RS silent configuration

[0120] The TRP 300 can be configured, for example, through interaction with the server 400 (e.g., through communications exchanged with the server 400 and / or instructions received from the server 400) and / or through software 312, to transmit downlink reference signals (DL-RS), such as DL-PRS or DL-TRS, according to a schedule. According to the schedule, the TRP 300 can transmit DL-RS signals intermittently, for example, periodically at consistent intervals starting from an initial transmission. The TRP 300 can be configured to transmit one or more RS resource sets. Each resource set can include multiple resources, each resource being a beam transmitted by the TRP 300, and each resource being configured with a slot offset and a symbol offset within a slot. A DL-PRS resource can also be configured with multiple consecutive symbols that the resource can occupy. Each RS resource is associated with an antenna port or beam, transmits a DL-RS signal, and can be repeatedly transmitted across slots, with each transmission being referred to as a repetition, such that multiple repetitions can occur within a resource. Each RS resource set is associated with a period. Each time all repetitions of all RS resources in an RS resource set are configured for transmission is referred to as an "instance." Thus, an "instance" of an RS resource set is a specified number of resources within the resource set and a specified number of repetitions of each resource, such that the instance is complete once the specified number of repetitions are transmitted for each of the specified number of resources. An instance may also be referred to as an "opportunity."

[0121] Conventionally, a signal muting configuration such as an RS muting configuration (also referred to as an RS muting pattern) is a time schedule of when the transmission schedule is muted and when it is not muted. The transmission schedule is the time and subcarrier schedule of when and which resource elements are detected (modulated with a signal) to convey a signal such as a PRS or TRS (e.g., Figure 12 ). Different muting configurations may be applied to, for example, different TRPs 300 to help improve orthogonality, thereby reducing interference between RS signals from adjacent TRPs 300. The RS muting configuration may be represented by a bitmap (i.e., a string of bits) that indicates when the RS is to be muted and when the RS is not to be muted, and thus the terms bitmap and muting configuration are used interchangeably herein. For example, a bit value of "1" may indicate that the corresponding(s) RS signal transmissions are not to be muted, while a bit value of "0" may indicate that the corresponding(s) RS signal transmissions are to be muted. The muting configuration may be inter-instance, in which case each bit in the bitmap indicates whether to mute all RS repetitions for all RS resources in a corresponding configurable number of instances, or intra-instance, in which case each bit in the bitmap indicates whether to mute corresponding RS repetitions for all RS resources in an instance, or intra-slot, in which case each bit in the bitmap indicates whether to mute corresponding symbols or sets of symbols for one or more repetitions of one or more RS resources. Thus, for the example of bitmap 1010 with inter-instance muting, the transmissions of the 0th and 2nd instances are not muted, while the transmissions of the 1st and 3rd instances are muted. For the same bitmap 1010 but with intra-instance muting, the transmissions of the 0th and 2nd repetitions within each instance are not muted, while the transmissions of the 1st and 3rd repetitions within each instance are muted. For the same bitmap 1010 but with intra-slot muting, the transmissions of the 0th and 2nd symbols (or symbol groups) in the corresponding slot are not muted, while the transmissions of the 1st and 3rd symbols (or symbol groups) in the corresponding slot are muted. Furthermore, different slots can have different intra-slot muting configurations.

[0122] Silent configuration between instances

[0123] Multiple silence configurations can be used, combining various scenarios such as the amount of repetitions, the symbol per repetition, the type of comb teeth, etc. Also see Figure 10, shows an example of an inter-instance RS muting configuration for a scenario with comb-2 transmission, two symbols per repetition, two repetitions per instance, and a 2-bit muting bitmap, although comb-2 details are not shown. The number of instances (e.g., consecutive instances) can be configurable, and in this example, one instance is used to help simplify the example. comb-K indicates that in each symbol, for each resource, the scheduled transmission is transmitted in every Kth subcarrier. Some RSs (e.g., PRS) can use different subcarriers in each symbol to transmit each resource, while other RSs (e.g., TRS) can use the same subcarriers in each symbol, with the same resource being transmitted. Therefore, different resources are frequency-division multiplexed to transmit RSs using different subcarriers so that simultaneously transmitted RSs are frequency orthogonal to help prevent collisions between RSs. In addition, resources can switch subcarriers for different symbols in a repetition (called staggering) to help fill holes in the frequency domain, thereby helping to eliminate aliasing in the time domain. For example, repetition 1010 including PRS includes symbol 1012 and symbol 1014. In symbol 1012, the first resource may use odd-numbered subcarriers and the second resource may use even-numbered subcarriers. In symbol 1014, the first resource may be transmitted using even-numbered subcarriers and the second resource may be transmitted using odd-numbered subcarriers. In this example, the two repetitions for each instance are transmitted in consecutive time slots (time slot 0 and time slot 1), although this is not required.

[0124] Figure 10 The muting configuration shown includes a 2-bit muting bitmap for each pair of instances. In this example, a value of "1" in the bitmap corresponds to transmitting the instance without muting, and a value of "0" in the bitmap corresponds to muting the instance. Figure 10 In the example, resources indicated as being muted are shown with dashed lines, while resources indicated as not being muted are shown with solid lines. Although only one instance is shown for each bit in each bitmap, more than one instance may correspond to a bit in the bitmap, and the number of instances corresponding to a bit is configurable. Thus, a bit in the bitmap may correspond to a configurable number of (consecutive) instances of one DL-PRS resource set in a periodic transmission of multiple DL-PRS resource sets.

[0125] Silent configuration within the instance

[0126] Also refer to Figure 11, shows an example of an intra-instance RS muting configuration for a scenario with combo-2 transmission, two symbols per repetition, two repetitions per instance, and a 2-bit muting bitmap, although combo-2 details are not shown. Each instance is given a 2-bit bitmap muting configuration, with each bit corresponding to a respective repetition in the respective instance. In this scenario, the bitmap indicates that resources are not muted during the first repetition 1112 during the first instance, while the transmission is muted during the second repetition 1114 during the first instance. A similar bitmap is provided for the second instance.

[0127] Figure 10 and Figure 11 The scenarios shown are examples only, and many other scenarios can be used. For example, bitmaps of other sizes can be used, such as 4 bits, 8 bits, 16 bits, 32 bits, etc. Figure 11 But in an intra-instance scenario with a 4-bit bitmap, each bit may correspond to each of the 4 repetitions in the instance. Multiple muting configurations of the intra-instance repetitions may be used.

[0128] Silence configuration within a time slot

[0129] Also refer to Figure 12 , shows an example of intra-slot RS muting for the scenario of comb-2 transmission, six symbols per repetition, two repetitions per instance, and with a 3-bit muting bitmap. Figure 12A transmission schedule 1200 for two time slots is shown, which can be part of a larger transmission schedule for transmitting a signal such as a PRS. Here, the transmission schedule 1200 indicates three portions of two resources (Resource 1 and Resource 2) to be carried by symbols 3-8 of each of a first time slot 1201 and a second time slot 1202. A muting configuration 1220 is represented by bitmap portions 1221 and 1222 for time slots 1201 and 1202, respectively. Each bit of the bitmap representing the muting configuration 1220 corresponds to a corresponding segment of the corresponding time slot 1201 and 1202. In this example, the RS can be a PRS, where each segment is of equal size and corresponds to an intra-slot grouping of symbols, each grouping indicating that all resource elements of the transmission schedule are sounded on the corresponding set of symbols. Different intra-slot groupings can be identical (i.e., intra-slot repetitions of the same pattern of sounding resource elements) or different (i.e., having different resource element patterns on the symbols used, although they sound all the same subcarriers). In this example, the number of intra-slot groupings G is equal to N / K, where N is the length of the RS resource in terms of the number of symbols in the slot (here, six symbols), and K is the comb type (i.e., the number of comb teeth), and the number of slot segments M is equal to G (M=G). Thus, as shown, for an RS resource length of 6 symbols (i.e., the length of the resource in symbols) and comb type 2, there are three intra-slot groupings (G=3), two symbols per intra-slot grouping, three bits per bitmap portion (M=3), one bit per intra-slot grouping, i.e., in this example, each segment corresponding to a bit in the bitmap also corresponds to an intra-slot grouping. With respect to the illustrated mapping of bits to symbols and the pattern of bits, the silence configuration 1220 is an example, and other examples may be used. For example, the silence configuration may cause each slot segment to correspond to a single symbol (rather than an intra-slot grouping of symbols as in the silence configuration 1220). As another example, the silence configuration may vary with different slots and / or resources.

[0130] Tracking reference signal

[0131] refer to Figure 13 And also refer to Figure 8In addition to PRS, another type of RS is the Tracking Reference Signal (TRS). TRS is a DL RS that enables the UE to track time and frequency variations with high resolution. TRS is wideband and is transmitted in regular bursts (at regular intervals). The parameters of the TRS burst structure include: X, the TRS burst length in the number of time slots; and Y, the TRS burst period in the number of time slots. For example, the burst length X below 6GHz can be two time slots, the burst length X above 6GHz can be one or two time slots, the burst period Y below 6GHz and above 6GHz can be 10ms, 20ms, 40ms or 80ms, and the number of OFDM symbols (N) of TRS within a time slot below 6GHz and above 6GHz can be two symbols. For a period of 20ms and above, the TRS bandwidth B can be approximately 50 resource blocks (RBs), and for a period of 10ms, the TRS bandwidth B can be 50 RBs. TRS subcarrier spacing (S f ) can be four REs, and the TRS symbol interval (S t ) can be four symbols. UE 800 is not expected to receive TRS outside the bandwidth part (BWP) of TRS, and TRS RB positioning is configured by TRP 300. TRS is configured as a CSI-RS resource set, and the common value of NZP (non-zero power) CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set is configured to reduce signaling overhead. TRS supports a single port and can be configured as multiple TRS for multi-TRP / multi-panel transmission with equal RE (resource element) spacing in the frequency domain within the TRS bandwidth and is UE-specifically managed. As Figure 13 As shown, for TRS example 1300, the burst length X is two time slots, the number of symbols N in a time slot is 2, and the subcarrier spacing S is f is 4, the symbol interval in the time slot is S t Yes 4. TRS is not muted. TRS is reliably transmitted for UE 800 to use in determining time and frequency changes.

[0132] Also refer to Figure 14, the extended TRS (E-TRS) 1400 includes a primary resource set of reference signal resources and multiple secondary resource sets of reference signal resources. The E-TRS 1400 includes four different resource sets. The E-TRS includes a collection of multiple resource sets, each resource set occupies the same set of REs in each symbol, and there is at least one symbol between the occupied symbols. By associating the TRP of the E-TRS 1400 with the position, the E-TRS 1400 can be used for positioning. The primary resource set of the E-TRS 1400 can be used for frequency and time tracking, and the primary resource set ID will be provided to the UE 800 to identify the primary resource set in the resource sets that constitute the E-TRS 1400. The primary resource set should not be silenced so that traditional UEs that expect to receive the TRS resource set will receive the TRS resource set for time and frequency tracking.

[0133] Selective resource quiescing

[0134] Silence is traditionally a time schedule of when scheduled transmissions are to be silenced and when scheduled transmissions are not to be silenced. As discussed herein, silence may be provided for one or more resources in a time period (e.g., one or more symbols, one or more time slots, or one or more instances) without silencing one or more other resources in the same time period. As discussed herein, one or more resources within a time period may be silenced without silencing one or more other resources within the same time period. Thus, for example, one or more secondary resource sets of an E-TRS may be silenced without silencing the primary resource set. Thus, a UE that desires uninterrupted transmission of the primary resource set will also be able to receive the primary resource set even though the muting pattern indicates silence. The UE may use the primary resource set for time and / or frequency tracking to help avoid degraded performance of time and / or frequency tracking.

[0135] Reference again Figure 9 And also refer to Figure 1-4 、 Figure 8 and Figure 10-18 , the RS muting unit 960 can be configured to determine RS muting as part of the RS configuration, and can be configured to instruct the TRP 300 to provide the RS according to the RS configuration. The RS muting unit 960 can be configured to provide a resource-specific muting configuration, such as a resource-specific muting pattern, as part of the RS configuration parameters provided to the TRP 300, for the TRP 300 to use in determining the RS configuration including RS scheduling and RS muting pattern. The resource-specific muting pattern can correspond to (e.g., instructing) one or more resources of the RS (e.g., the primary resource set of the E-TRS, or one or more resources of the multi-resource PRS, etc.) to be muted, while at the same time, one or more resources of the RS are not transmitted silently.

[0136] Figure 18The illustrated process and signal flow 1800 includes the illustrated stages. The flow 1800 is merely an example, and other flows are possible, such as adding, removing, and / or rearranging stages compared to the flow 1800.

[0137] At stage 1810, the server 400 (e.g., the RS silencing unit 960) provides an RS configuration message 1812 to the TRP 300. The RS configuration message 1812 may include one or more RS configuration parameters and may be configured to cause the TRP 300 to implement the RS configuration to transmit one or more RSs according to the RS configuration. The RS configuration parameter(s) may include one or more time-based silencing patterns and / or indications of resource-based silencing. For example, if the TRP 300 is configured with a default (e.g., manufacturer-programmed) resource-based silencing, the RS configuration message 1812 may not include an indication of resource-based silencing. Resource-based silencing may be implicit, with no explicit indication of resource-based silencing provided.

[0138] At stage 1820, the TRP 300 determines one or more RS configurations for one or more RSs, including one or more RS muting configurations, and sends an RS configuration message 1822 to the UE 800 indicating the determined RS configuration(s) (including the muting configuration(s). The TRP 300 may be configured with a default resource-based muting, in which case the TRP 300 may determine the RS muting configuration to include resource-based muting without receiving an explicit indication to implement resource-based muting. The TRP 300 may be configured to override the default resource-based muting with any explicit resource-based muting indicated by the RS configuration message 1812, or to use the default resource-based muting regardless of any explicit resource-based muting indicated by the RS configuration message 1812. The TRP 300 (e.g., the RS muting unit 960 in the case of the network entity 900 including or acting as a TRP) can be configured to use the explicit indication of resource-based muting in the RS configuration message 1812 to determine resource-based muting of one or more RSs to be transmitted from the TRP 300.

[0139] An indication of resource-based silencing can be provided by the RS silencing unit 960 in any of a variety of formats in the RS configuration message 1812, for example, according to the configuration of the TRP 300. For example, the indication can be a single bit indicating whether to silence the resource according to a time-based silencing pattern, i.e., whether to apply a time-based silencing pattern indication to silence one or more resources. A single bit can correspond to one or more resources that are, for example, statically programmed (e.g., hard-coded into the memory 311 during manufacturing) or dynamically programmed (e.g., by one or more control signals received via the transceiver 315). As another example, a plurality of bits can be used to form a code, with different code values corresponding to different resource sets, each set including one or more resources. As another example, a plurality of bits can be provided, each bit corresponding to a corresponding resource and indicating whether to silence the corresponding resource or not, or whether to apply a time-based silencing pattern indicating that the corresponding resource is to be silenced.

[0140] Figure 15 An example of resource-based muting or implicit resource-based muting for inter-instance time-based muting is shown. As shown, the time-based inter-instance muting pattern represented by the bitmap 1510 indicates that a first instance 1550 of the E-TRS is not transmitted silently and a second instance 1560 of the E-TRS is muted (to simplify the drawing, the first instance 1550 is not transmitted silently and the second instance 1560 of the E-TRS is muted). Figure 15-18Only the resource elements transmitted are shown in the figure). In this example, all secondary resources are silenced in the second instance 1560, and the primary resources are transmitted non-silently in the second instance 1560, even though the time-based muting pattern indicates that the second instance 1560 is to be muted. The RS configuration message 1812 may not include an indication of resource-based muting, and in response to the time-based muting pattern indicating muting, the TRP 300 may mute the secondary resources based on the static configuration or dynamic configuration of the TRP 300 to mute all resources except the primary resources. That is, the TRP 300 may be configured to always transmit the primary resources non-silently, regardless of the indication for muting. As another example, the RS configuration message 1812 may include a single-bit (or multi-bit) indication for implementing resource-based muting, and the TRP 300 is configured to interpret the indication to determine which resource(s) to be muted. In this example, the single-bit indication 1520 has a value of "0", indicating that time-based muting is to be applied to one or more corresponding resources. In this example, TRP 300 is configured (statically or dynamically) to silence all secondary resources in response to a single-bit resource-based silence indication indicating silence, and therefore TRP 300 will silence all secondary resources. As another example, the multi-bit indication 1530 has four bits, each bit associated with one of the four resource sets. As shown, the value "1000" indicates that resource set 0 is transmitted (i.e., the time-based silence indication for silence is ignored) and resource sets 1, 2, and 3 are silenced (i.e., the time-based silence indication for silence is applied). If TRP 300 is configured to always transmit the primary resource set, the multi-bit indication may include only the bits corresponding to the secondary resource set. Server 400 can send a single-bit indication 1520 or a multi-bit indication 1530 (or another indication) to cause TRP 300 to implement the corresponding silence configuration, thereby causing TRP 300 to transmit (non-silently) the corresponding resource or silence the corresponding resource. TRP 300 may apply the resource-based muting indication only to the time-based muting pattern indication to mute the corresponding time period. Alternatively, for the time-based muting pattern indication, the resource-based indication may have a value of "1" or all 1s to transmit (i.e., not mute) the corresponding time period.

[0141] Figure 16Other examples of resource-based muting or implicit resource-based muting are shown for time-based muting between instances, multiple resource-based muting indications. As shown, bitmap 1610 is the same as bitmap 1510 that represents a time-based muting pattern to transmit a first instance 1650 without muting and to silence a second instance 1660. However, in this example, the TRP 300 is configured (statically or dynamically) to interpret a single-bit indication 1620 of resource-based muting with a value of "0" as corresponding to silencing secondary resource set 1 and secondary resource set 3 and transmitting secondary resource set 2, even though the time-based muting pattern indicates that the second instance is to be muted. The TRP 300 can also be configured to interpret a value of "0" for the single-bit indication 1620 as indicating that the primary resource set is not to be muted, and / or the TRP 300 can be configured to never mute the primary resource set (and therefore may not interpret any meaning of the single-bit indication 1620 for the primary resource set). The multi-bit indication 1630 has four bits, each bit being associated with one of the four resource sets. As shown, the value "1010" indicates that resource sets 0 and 2 are transmitted (i.e., the time-based muting indication for muting is ignored) and the resources of resource sets 1 and 3 are muted (i.e., the time-based muting indication for muting is applied). The server 400 can send a single-bit indication 1620 or a multi-bit indication 1630 (or another indication) to cause the TRP 300 to implement the corresponding muting configuration, thereby causing the TRP 300 to transmit (not silently) the corresponding resources or to mute the corresponding resources. Although not shown, an indication can be provided for intra-symbol muting such that one or more REs within a symbol for a particular resource set can be muted, while one or more other REs for the resource set are not muted. For example, for a time slot indicated as muted, it can be indicated that less than all of the REs of a resource set do not apply a muting pattern, while the remaining REs of the resource set will apply a muting pattern.

[0142] Figure 15 and Figure 16 The silent example of does not limit the present disclosure. For example, the resource-based silent mode can be applied to other time-based silent modes, for example, time-based silent modes for other time periods such as silent within an instance, silent within a time slot, etc.

[0143] As another example, Figure 17As shown, resource-based muting can be applied to RSs other than E-TRS, such as PRSs. In this example, time-based muting is inter-instance muting, and bitmap 1710 has a value of "10," indicating that the first instance 1750 is not transmitted muted, while the second instance 1760 is muted. In this example, PRS 1700 has two resources (resource 0 and resource 1) with a repetition factor of 3. A single-bit indication 1720 of resource-based muting indicates that the corresponding resource is muted (e.g., time-based muting is applied thereto). In this example, resource 1 is muted according to the (static or dynamic) configuration of TRP 300. If the PRS has more than two resources, single-bit indication 1720 can correspond to more than one resource. In this example, multi-bit indication 1730 includes two bits, each bit corresponding to a resource, and the value of each bit indicates whether the corresponding resource is muted (time-based muting is applied thereto). As for TRS, TRP 300 can be configured with a default resource-based configuration for PRS (and / or other RS), e.g., resource 0 is never silenced, in which case the single-bit indication 1720 or multi-bit indication 1730 (or other indication) can be omitted from the RS configuration message 1812.

[0144] The remaining stages of process 1800 provide positioning information based on the RS configuration indicated and determined in stages 1810 and 1820. At stage 1830, UE 800 sends a location service request 1832 to TRP 300 (and / or to server 400) requesting location services. At stage 1840, TRP 300 sends RS 1842 (e.g., PRS, E-TRS) to UE 800 for positioning. At stage 1850, UE 800 measures RS 1842 to determine positioning information (e.g., one or more measurements, one or more pseudoranges, one or more positioning estimates, etc.). At stage 1860, UE 800 sends a report 1862 with the positioning information (e.g., one or more measurements, one or more pseudoranges, one or more positioning estimates, etc.) to server 400. At stage 1870, server 400 determines the positioning information (e.g., a positioning estimate of UE 800 based on the information in report 1862).

[0145] operate

[0146] refer to Figure 19 And also refer to Figure 1-18 , the resource-based quiescing method 1900 includes the stages shown. However, the method 1900 is only an example and not a limitation. The method 1900 can be modified, for example, by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, performing stages in parallel, and / or dividing a single stage into multiple stages.

[0147] At stage 1910, method 1900 includes instructing a transmission point (TP) to apply a muting pattern with respect to transmission of a reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein a first instance of the first reference signal resource comprises one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols within a time slot, and a second instance of the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second OFDM symbols within a time slot. The transmission point can be a dedicated device for transmission (e.g., a TRP without a receiving component such as a processor component(s) for signal reception), or can be a TRP or a transmitting portion of a TRP, or other device. For example, server 400 can send an RS configuration message 1812 to TRP 300 to indicate a muting pattern, e.g., a time-based muting pattern with respect to the reference signal. RS configuration message 1812 can include other configuration information for the RS to be transmitted by TRP 300, including the muting pattern. The muting pattern can indicate a time portion (e.g., instance, time slot, time slot segment) during which transmission is not to be muted or muted. The (multiple) second OFDM symbol(s) may be the (multiple) first OFDM symbol(s), or may be separated from the (multiple) first OFDM symbol(s), or one or more of the second OFDM symbols may be one or more of the (multiple) first OFDM symbol(s), and one or more other second OFDM symbols may be separated from the (multiple) first OFDM symbol(s). The processor 910 (e.g., processor 410), possibly in conjunction with the memory 930 (e.g., memory 411), in conjunction with the interface 920 (e.g., transceiver 415, e.g., wired transmitter 452), may include a component for instructing the TRP to apply a silent mode. Alternatively, the processor 310 of the TRP 300 may cause the TRP 300 to apply a silent mode, and thus the processor 310, possibly in conjunction with the memory 311, may include a component for instructing the TRP to apply a silent mode.

[0148] At stage 1920, method 1900 includes instructing the TP to not transmit silently at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols, even though the muting pattern indicates that transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols is to be muted. For example, for a multi-symbol resource, one resource may be muted across multiple symbols, while another resource may be transmitted in one or more of the same symbols. As another example, where the corresponding time-based muting pattern indicates muting, Figure 15 Resource set 0 of the second instance 1560 shown in FIG, or Figure 16 Resource set 0 and resource set 2 of the second instance 1660 shown in FIG, or Figure 17Resource 0 of the second instance 1760 shown in may not be transmitted silently, while the transmission of resource sets 1, 2, and 3 in the second instance 1560 is muted, resource sets 1 and 3 in the second instance 1660 are muted, and resource 1 in the second instance 1760 is muted. As another example, one or more resource elements of a reference signal resource (e.g., resource set 1, resource set 2, resource set 3) within one or more symbols may be muted, while one or more other resource elements of the reference signal resource are not transmitted silently. As another example, the instruction may include transmitting an indication from the server to the TP to not transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements silently. For example, in order to instruct the TP not to transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements silently, the server 400 may, for example, transmit an RS configuration message 1812 to the TRP 300 to indicate resource-based muting, for example, the RS configuration message 1812 (which may include multiple separate messages) includes an indication of one or more resource elements (e.g., of one or more reference signal resources) that are not to be muted according to the muting pattern. The indication of resource-based muting may be, for example, a reference signal resource. Figure 15-17 A single-bit indication or a multi-bit indication is discussed, for example, each bit of the multi-bit indication corresponds to (and indicates whether to silence) a corresponding second reference signal resource. Another bit string may be provided to indicate whether the resource elements within the symbol are transmitted silently or not. As another example, the server 400 may implicitly cause the TP (e.g., TRP 300) to not transmit (multiple) second resource elements silently by indicating the RS to be transmitted and the muting mode, wherein the TP is configured to not transmit one or more resources silently by default (e.g., always). The processor 910 (e.g., processor 410) may include a component for instructing the TRP to not transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements silently in combination with the memory 930 (e.g., memory 411), the interface 920 (e.g., transceiver 415, e.g., wired transmitter 452). Alternatively, the processor 310 of the TRP 300 may instruct the TRP 300 to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements, for example, based on an instruction from the server 400, or based on a static configuration of the TRP 300 (e.g., hard-coded during manufacturing), or based on a dynamic configuration of the TRP 300 (e.g., a control message received by the TRP 300). The processor 310, possibly in conjunction with the memory 311, in conjunction with the transceiver 315 (e.g., the wireless receiver 344 and antenna 346 and / or the wired receiver 354), may include means for instructing the TRP to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements.

[0149] Implementations of method 1900 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the reference signal includes a plurality of reference signal instance sets, wherein each of the plurality of reference signal instance sets includes a first instance and a second instance, and instructing the TP to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements includes instructing the TP to not silently transmit all of the one or more second resource elements in each of the plurality of reference signal instance sets, regardless of the muting pattern. For example, Figure 15 and Figure 16 The primary resource set shown in FIG can always be transmitted without muting, for example, to accommodate legacy UEs that prefer the primary resource not to be muted, thereby avoiding interference with positioning using legacy UEs while improving reference signal orthogonality. In another example implementation, the second reference signal resource can include multiple second resource elements in the same frequency domain that are not staggered in one or more second resource elements in each of the multiple instance sets. Each of the (multiple) second resource elements can be, for example, a TRS resource that uses the same REs in each symbol.

[0150] Additionally or alternatively, implementations of method 1900 may include one or more of the following features. In one example implementation, method 1900 may include instructing the TP to transmit a first indication of a muting pattern to the user equipment, and a second indication that at least one of the one or more second resource elements is to be transmitted non-silently despite the muting pattern indicating that transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements for at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols is to be muted. For example, server 400 may explicitly or implicitly (e.g., by providing RS configuration message 1812) instruct TRP 300 to send RS configuration message 1822 to UE 800 to indicate a time-based muting pattern and a resource-based muting configuration, the resource-based muting configuration indicating that the second reference signal resource (e.g., all resource elements of the second reference signal resource) is to be transmitted non-silently despite the time-based muting configuration indicating that the second reference signal resource is to be muted. The processor 910 (e.g., processor 410), possibly in conjunction with the memory 930 (e.g., memory 411), in conjunction with the interface 920 (e.g., transceiver 415, e.g., wired transmitter 452), may include a component for instructing the TRP to send the first indication and the second indication to the UE. Alternatively, for example, in response to receiving the RS configuration parameter from the server 400, the processor 310 of the TRP 300 may instruct the TRP 300 not to silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements. The processor 310, possibly in conjunction with the memory 311, in conjunction with the transceiver 315 (e.g., wireless receiver 344 and antenna 346 and / or wired receiver 354), may include a component for instructing the TRP to send the first indication and the second indication to the UE.

[0151] Additionally or alternatively, an implementation of method 1900 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the reference signal may be a tracking reference signal, and each of the first reference signal resource and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a single CSI-RS (channel state information - reference signal) resource. In another example implementation, the reference signal is an extended tracking reference signal, and the first reference signal resource corresponds to a first CSI-RS resource set, and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a second CSI-RS resource set. In another example implementation, method 1900 includes instructing the TP to mute transmission of a first reference signal resource of at least one of the one or more first OFDM symbols according to a muting pattern. For example, the server 400 may instruct the TRP 300 to mute transmission of one or more reference signal resources according to a time-based muting pattern that indicates that one or more symbols are to be muted, even though one or more other resources in the (multiple) symbols are transmitted regardless of (contrary to) the time-based muting pattern. Server 400 may include an indication in RS configuration message 1812 that a muting pattern is to be applied to one or more reference signal resources, for example, implicitly via a single-bit (or encoded multi-bit) indication and programming of TRP 300, or explicitly via a multi-bit indication, wherein one or more bits of the multi-bit indication indicate that the muting pattern is to be applied to the one or more corresponding reference signal resources. Processor 910 (e.g., processor 410), possibly in conjunction with memory 930 (e.g., memory 411), in conjunction with interface 920 (e.g., transceiver 415, e.g., wired transmitter 452), may include means for instructing the TRP to mute transmission of at least one of the first reference signal resources in the one or more second OFDM symbols in accordance with the muting pattern. Alternatively, processor 310 of TRP 300 may instruct TRP 300 to mute transmission of the one or more reference signal resources in accordance with a time-based muting pattern that indicates that one or more symbols are to be muted, even though one or more other resources in the symbol(s) are transmitted regardless of (or contrary to) the time-based muting pattern. The processor 310, possibly in conjunction with the memory 311, may include means for instructing the TRP to mute transmission of the first reference signal resource of at least one of the one or more second OFDM symbols according to a muting pattern.

[0152] Implementation Example

[0153] Examples of implementations are provided in the numbered clauses below.

[0154] 1. A network entity, comprising:

[0155] transmitter;

[0156] Memory; and

[0157] a processor communicatively coupled to the transmitter and the memory and configured to:

[0158] instructing a transmitting point to apply a muting pattern with respect to transmission of a reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein a first instance of the first reference signal resource comprises one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within a time slot, and a second instance of the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within the time slot; and

[0159] The transmitting point is instructed to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols even though the muting pattern indicates to mute transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols.

[0160] 2. The network entity of clause 1 , wherein the reference signal comprises a plurality of reference signal instance sets, wherein each of the plurality of reference signal instance sets comprises a first instance and a second instance, and wherein the processor is configured to instruct the transmit point to not silently transmit all of the one or more second resource elements in each of the plurality of reference signal instance sets, regardless of the muting pattern.

[0161] 3. The network entity of clause 2, wherein the second reference signal resource comprises a plurality of second resource elements in the same frequency domain that are not staggered among one or more second resource elements in each of a plurality of reference signal instance sets.

[0162] 4. The network entity of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to transmit, via the transmitter, to the transmission point, an indication to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements.

[0163] 5. The network entity of clause 4, wherein the indication comprises a single bit.

[0164] 6. The network entity of clause 4, wherein the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second reference signal resources, and wherein the indication comprises one or more bits, each of the one or more bits corresponding to a respective one of the one or more second reference signal resources.

[0165] 7. A network entity as described in clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to instruct the transmission point to transmit a first indication of a muting pattern to the user equipment and a second indication that at least one of the one or more second resource elements is not to be transmitted silently despite the muting pattern indicating that transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols is to be muted.

[0166] 8. The network entity of clause 1, wherein the reference signal is a tracking reference signal, and wherein each of the first reference signal resource and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a single channel state information-reference signal resource.

[0167] 9. The network entity of clause 8, wherein the reference signal is an extended tracking reference signal, and wherein the first reference signal resource corresponds to a first channel state information-reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a second channel state information-reference signal resource set.

[0168] 10. The network entity of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to instruct the transmitting point to mute transmission of the first reference signal resource of at least one of the one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols according to a muting pattern.

[0169] 11. A method for managing positioning reference signal transmission, the method comprising:

[0170] instructing a transmitting point to apply a muting pattern with respect to transmission of a reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein a first instance of the first reference signal resource comprises one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within a time slot, and a second instance of the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within the time slot; and

[0171] The transmitting point is instructed to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols even though the muting pattern indicates to mute transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols.

[0172] 12. The method of clause 11, wherein the reference signal comprises a plurality of reference signal instance sets, wherein each of the plurality of reference signal instance sets comprises a first instance and a second instance, and wherein instructing the transmission point to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements comprises instructing the transmission point to not silently transmit all of the one or more second resource elements in each of the plurality of reference signal instance sets, regardless of the muting mode.

[0173] 13. The method of clause 12, wherein the second reference signal resource comprises a plurality of second resource elements in the same frequency domain that are not staggered among one or more second resource elements in each of a plurality of reference signal instance sets.

[0174] 14. The method of clause 11, wherein instructing the transmission point to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements comprises transmitting, from the server to the transmission point, an indication to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements.

[0175] 15. The method of clause 14, wherein the indication comprises a single bit.

[0176] 16. The method of clause 14, wherein the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second reference signal resources, and wherein the indication comprises one or more bits, each of the one or more bits corresponding to a respective one of the one or more second reference signal resources.

[0177] 17. The method of clause 11 further comprises: instructing the transmission point to transmit a first indication of a silent mode to the user equipment and a second indication of not transmitting at least one of the one or more second resource elements silently despite the silent mode indication of silencing the transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols.

[0178] 18. The method of clause 11, wherein the reference signal is a tracking reference signal, and wherein each of the first reference signal resource and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a single channel state information-reference signal resource.

[0179] 19. The method of clause 18, wherein the reference signal is an extended tracking reference signal, and wherein the first reference signal resource corresponds to a first channel state information-reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a second channel state information-reference signal resource set.

[0180] 20. The method of clause 11, further comprising instructing the transmitting point to mute transmission of the first reference signal resource of at least one of the one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols according to a muting pattern.

[0181] 21. A network entity comprising:

[0182] a first component for instructing a transmission point to apply a muting pattern with respect to transmission of a reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein the first instance of the first reference signal resource comprises one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within a time slot, and the second instance of the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within the time slot; and

[0183] and second means for instructing the transmit point to not silence transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols even though the muting pattern indicates muting transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols.

[0184] 22. The network entity of clause 21, wherein the reference signal comprises a plurality of reference signal instance sets, wherein each of the plurality of reference signal instance sets comprises a first instance and a second instance, and wherein the second means comprises means for instructing the transmit point to not silently transmit all of the one or more second resource elements in each of the plurality of reference signal instance sets regardless of the muting pattern.

[0185] 23. The network entity of clause 22, wherein the second reference signal resource comprises a plurality of second resource elements in the same frequency domain that are not staggered among the one or more second resource elements in each of the plurality of reference signal instance sets.

[0186] 24. The network entity of clause 21, wherein the network entity comprises a server, and wherein the second means comprises means for transmitting an indication to the transmission point to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements.

[0187] 25. The network entity of clause 24, wherein the indication comprises a single bit.

[0188] 26. The network entity of clause 24, wherein the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second reference signal resources, and wherein the indication comprises one or more bits, each of the one or more bits corresponding to a respective one of the one or more second reference signal resources.

[0189] 27. The network entity of clause 21, further comprising means for instructing the transmission point to transmit to the user equipment a first indication of a muting pattern and a second indication not to transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements silently despite the muting pattern indicating muting transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols.

[0190] 28. The network entity of clause 21, wherein the reference signal is a tracking reference signal, and wherein each of the first reference signal resource and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a single channel state information-reference signal resource.

[0191] 29. The network entity of clause 28, wherein the reference signal is an extended tracking reference signal, and wherein the first reference signal resource corresponds to a first channel state information-reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a second channel state information-reference signal resource set.

[0192] 30. The network entity of clause 21, further comprising means for instructing the transmitting point to mute transmission of the first reference signal resource of at least one of the one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols according to a muting pattern.

[0193] 31. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions, the processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor of a network entity to:

[0194] instructing a transmitting point to apply a muting pattern with respect to transmission of a reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein a first instance of the first reference signal resource comprises one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within a time slot, and a second instance of the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within the time slot; and

[0195] The transmitting point is instructed to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols even though the muting pattern indicates to mute transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols.

[0196] 32. The storage medium of clause 31, wherein the reference signal comprises a plurality of reference signal instance sets, wherein each of the plurality of reference signal instance sets comprises a first instance and a second instance, and wherein the processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to instruct the transmission point to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements comprise processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to instruct the transmission point to not silently transmit all of the one or more second resource elements in each of the plurality of reference signal instance sets regardless of a muting mode.

[0197] 33. The storage medium of clause 32, wherein the second reference signal resource comprises a plurality of second resource elements in the same frequency domain that are not staggered among one or more second resource elements in each of a plurality of reference signal instance sets.

[0198] 34. A storage medium as described in clause 31, wherein the network entity is a server, and wherein the processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to instruct the transmission point not to silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements include processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to transmit an indication from the server to the transmission point to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements.

[0199] 35. The storage medium of clause 34, wherein the indication comprises a single bit.

[0200] 36. The storage medium of clause 34, wherein the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second reference signal resources, and wherein the indication comprises one or more bits, each of the one or more bits corresponding to a respective one of the one or more second reference signal resources.

[0201] 37. A storage medium as described in clause 31, wherein the processor-readable instructions include instructions configured to cause the processor to instruct the transmission point to transmit a first indication of a silent mode to the user equipment and a second indication to not transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols silently despite the silent mode indicating that the transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements is to be silenced.

[0202] 38. The storage medium of clause 31, wherein the reference signal is a tracking reference signal, and wherein each of the first reference signal resource and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a single channel state information-reference signal resource.

[0203] 39. The storage medium of clause 38, wherein the reference signal is an extended tracking reference signal, and wherein the first reference signal resource corresponds to a first channel state information-reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a second channel state information-reference signal resource set.

[0204] 40. The storage medium of clause 31, wherein the processor-readable instructions include instructions configured to cause the processor to instruct the transmitting point to mute transmission of the first reference signal resource of at least one of the one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols according to a muting pattern.

[0205] Other considerations

[0206] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, the functionality described above can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination thereof. Features implementing functionality can also be physically located in various locations, including distributed, such that portions of functionality are implemented in different physical locations.

[0207] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" also include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprise," "include," "include," and / or "comprising" as used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0208] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, a statement that a function or operation is "based on" an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the item or condition and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions other than the item or condition.

[0209] Furthermore, as used herein, “or” used in a list of items (possibly ending with “at least one of” or “one or more of”) represents a disjunctive list, so that, for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C” or a list of “one or more of A, B, or C” or a list of “A or B or C” means A, or B, or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or a combination having more than one of the features (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a recitation that an item (e.g., a processor) is configured to perform a function with respect to at least one of A or B, or a recitation that an item is configured to perform function A or function B, means that the item can be configured to perform the function with respect to A, or can be configured to perform the function with respect to B, or can be configured to perform the functions with respect to both A and B. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" or "a processor configured to measure A or measure B" means that the processor can be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or can be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or can be configured to measure A and measure B (and can select which one or both of A and B to measure). Similarly, the recitation of a component for measuring at least one of A or B includes a component for measuring A (which may or may not measure B), or a component for measuring B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or a component for measuring A and B (which may select which one or both of A and B to measure). As another example, the recitation that an item (e.g., a processor) is configured to perform at least one of function X or perform function Y means that the item can be configured to perform function X, or can be configured to perform function Y, or can be configured to perform function X and perform function Y. For example, the phrase “a processor configured to measure at least one of X or Y” means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and measure Y (and may be configured to select which one or both of X and Y to measure).

[0210] Substantial changes may be made depending on specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor (including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. In addition, connections to other computing devices such as network input / output devices may be used. Unless otherwise indicated, functional or other components shown in the drawings and / or discussed herein as being connected or communicating with each other are communicatively coupled. That is, they may be connected directly or indirectly to enable communication between them.

[0211] The systems and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various processes or components as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined in similar ways. Furthermore, technology is constantly evolving, and therefore, many elements are examples and do not limit the scope of this disclosure or the claims.

[0212] A wireless communication system is a system that transmits communications wirelessly, i.e., via electromagnetic and / or acoustic waves that propagate through atmospheric space, rather than via wired or other physical connections. A wireless communication network may not transmit all communications wirelessly, but may be configured to transmit at least some communications wirelessly. Furthermore, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms does not require that the device's functionality be dedicated or even primarily for communication or that the device be a mobile device, but rather indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (unidirectional or bidirectional), such as at least one radio for wireless communication (each radio being part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver).

[0213] Specific details are provided in the description to provide a comprehensive understanding of the example configurations (including implementations). However, the configurations can be implemented without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shown without unnecessary details to avoid obscuring the configurations. This description provides only example configurations and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configurations of the claims. In contrast, the foregoing description of the configurations provides a description of how the technology is implemented. Various changes can be made to the functions and arrangements of the elements.

[0214] As used herein, the terms "processor-readable medium," "machine-readable medium," and "computer-readable medium" refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a particular manner. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media can participate in providing instructions / code to (multiple) processors for execution, and / or can be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code (e.g., as signals). In many implementations, processor-readable media is a physical and / or tangible storage medium. Such media can take a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical disks and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0215] While several example configurations have been described, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the present invention. Furthermore, multiple operations may be performed before, during, or after consideration of the above elements. Therefore, the above description does not limit the scope of the claims.

[0216] A statement that a value exceeds (or is greater than or higher than) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is a value higher than the first threshold as interpreted by the computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or within or lower than) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly lower than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is a value lower than the first threshold as interpreted by the computing system.

Claims

1. A network entity, comprising: transmitter; Memory; as well as a processor communicatively coupled to the transmitter and the memory and configured to: instructing a transmitting point to apply a muting pattern with respect to transmission of a downlink positioning reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein a first instance of the first reference signal resource comprises one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within a time slot, and a second instance of the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within the time slot, wherein the downlink positioning reference signal comprises a plurality of reference signal instance sets, wherein each instance set in the plurality of reference signal instance sets comprises the first instance and the second instance; determining content of the one or more second resource elements; and Based on the content of the one or more second resource elements, instruct the transmit point to not mute transmission of all of the one or more second resource elements in each of the plurality of sets of reference signal instances for at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols even though a muting pattern indicates muting transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements for at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols.

2. The network entity according to claim 1, wherein: The second reference signal resources include a plurality of non-staggered second resource elements in the same frequency domain among one or more second resource elements in each instance set of a plurality of reference signal instance sets.

3. The network entity according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is configured to transmit, via the transmitter, to a transmission point, an indication to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements.

4. The network entity according to claim 3, wherein: The indication comprises a single bit.

5. The network entity according to claim 3, wherein: The second reference signal resource comprises one or more second reference signal resources, and wherein the indication comprises one or more bits, each of the one or more bits corresponding to a respective one of the one or more second reference signal resources.

6. The network entity according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is configured to instruct the transmission point to transmit a first indication of a muting pattern and a second indication to the user equipment, wherein the second indication is that at least one of the one or more second resource elements will not be transmitted silently even though the muting pattern indicates that the transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols is muted.

7. The network entity according to claim 1, wherein: The downlink positioning reference signal is a tracking reference signal, and wherein each of the first reference signal resource and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a single channel state information-reference signal resource.

8. The network entity according to claim 7, wherein: The downlink positioning reference signal is an extended tracking reference signal, and wherein the first reference signal resource corresponds to a first channel state information-reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a second channel state information-reference signal resource set.

9. The network entity according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is configured to instruct a transmitting point to mute transmission of a first reference signal resource of at least one of the one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols according to a muting pattern.

10. The network entity according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is configured to determine whether content of the one or more second resource elements is part of a reference signal that a user equipment desires to always transmit unmuted.

11. A method for managing positioning reference signal transmission, the method comprising: instructing a transmitting point to apply a muting pattern with respect to transmission of a downlink positioning reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein a first instance of the first reference signal resource comprises one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within a time slot, and a second instance of the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within the time slot, wherein the downlink positioning reference signal comprises a plurality of reference signal instance sets, wherein each instance set in the plurality of reference signal instance sets comprises the first instance and the second instance; determining content of the one or more second resource elements; and Based on the content of the one or more second resource elements, instruct the transmit point to not mute transmission of all of the one or more second resource elements in each of the plurality of sets of reference signal instances for at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols even though a muting pattern indicates muting transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements for at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein: The second reference signal resources include a plurality of non-staggered second resource elements in the same frequency domain among one or more second resource elements in each instance set of a plurality of reference signal instance sets.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein: Instructing the transmission point to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements includes transmitting, from the server to the transmission point, an indication to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein: The indication comprises a single bit.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein: The second reference signal resource comprises one or more second reference signal resources, and wherein the indication comprises one or more bits, each of the one or more bits corresponding to a respective one of the one or more second reference signal resources.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising: The instructing transmitting point transmits a first indication and a second indication of a silent mode to the user equipment, wherein the second indication is that at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols will not be transmitted silently even though the silent mode indicates that the transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols will be silenced.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein: The downlink positioning reference signal is a tracking reference signal, and wherein each of the first reference signal resource and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a single channel state information-reference signal resource.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein: The downlink positioning reference signal is an extended tracking reference signal, and wherein the first reference signal resource corresponds to a first channel state information-reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a second channel state information-reference signal resource set.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising: The transmitting point is instructed to mute transmission of a first reference signal resource of at least one of the one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols according to a mute pattern.

20. A network entity, comprising: a first component for instructing a transmission point to apply a muting pattern with respect to transmission of a downlink positioning reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein a first instance of the first reference signal resource comprises one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within a time slot, and a second instance of the second reference signal resource comprises one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within a time slot, wherein the downlink positioning reference signal comprises a plurality of reference signal instance sets, wherein each instance set in the plurality of reference signal instance sets comprises the first instance and the second instance; means for determining content of the one or more second resource elements; and and second means for instructing the transmit point to not mute transmission of all of the one or more second resource elements in each of the plurality of reference signal instance sets for at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols based on the content of the one or more second resource elements, even though a muting pattern indicates muting transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements for at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols.

21. The network entity according to claim 20, wherein: The second reference signal resources include a plurality of non-staggered second resource elements in the same frequency domain among one or more second resource elements in each instance set of a plurality of reference signal instance sets.

22. The network entity according to claim 20, wherein: The network entity comprises a server, and wherein the second means comprises means for transmitting an indication to a transmission point to not silently transmit at least one of the one or more second resource elements.

23. The network entity according to claim 22, wherein: The indication comprises a single bit.

24. The network entity according to claim 22, wherein: The second reference signal resource comprises one or more second reference signal resources, and wherein the indication comprises one or more bits, each of the one or more bits corresponding to a respective one of the one or more second reference signal resources.

25. The network entity of claim 20, wherein: The first means for instructing is further configured to instruct the transmission point to transmit a first indication of a muting pattern and a second indication to the user equipment, wherein the second indication is that at least one of the one or more second resource elements is not to be transmitted silently despite the muting pattern indicating that transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements of at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols is to be muted.

26. The network entity according to claim 20, wherein: The downlink positioning reference signal is a tracking reference signal, and wherein each of the first reference signal resource and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a single channel state information-reference signal resource.

27. The network entity according to claim 26, wherein: The downlink positioning reference signal is an extended tracking reference signal, and wherein the first reference signal resource corresponds to a first channel state information-reference signal resource set and the second reference signal resource corresponds to a second channel state information-reference signal resource set.

28. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions, the processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor of a network entity to: instructing a transmitting point to apply a muting pattern with respect to transmission of a downlink positioning reference signal comprising a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, wherein, a first instance of a first reference signal resource comprising one or more first resource elements spanning one or more first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within a time slot, and a second instance of a second reference signal resource comprising one or more second resource elements spanning one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols within a time slot, wherein the downlink positioning reference signal comprises a plurality of reference signal instance sets, wherein each instance set in the plurality of reference signal instance sets comprises the first instance and the second instance; determining content of the one or more second resource elements; and Based on the content of the one or more second resource elements, instruct the transmit point to not mute transmission of all of the one or more second resource elements in each of the plurality of sets of reference signal instances for at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols even though a muting pattern indicates muting transmission of at least one of the one or more second resource elements for at least one of the one or more second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols.

29. A network entity comprising: transmitter; Memory; as well as a processor communicatively coupled to the transmitter and the memory and configured to: With respect to transmission of a reference signal comprising a first set of resources and a second set of resources, instructing a transmitting point to apply a muting pattern for a time period, the muting pattern indicating (i) unmuting a first instance of the first set of resources and the second set of resources, and (ii) muting a second instance of the first set of resources and the second set of resources; determining content of the second resource set; as well as The transmission point is instructed to mute the first resource set in the second instance and, based on the content of the second resource set, not to transmit the second resource set silently even though the muting pattern indicates to mute transmission of the second resource set.

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